Direct Democracy Facts and Arguments About the Introduction of Initiative and Referendum with a Contribution by Paul Carline

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Jos Verhulst & Arjen Nijeboer Direct Democracy Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and Referendum With a contribution by Paul Carline

Jos Verhulst & Arjen Nijeboer Direct Democracy Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and Referendum

Democracy International Brussels 2007 www.democracy-international.org www.democratie.nu www.referendumplatform.nl ISBN 9789078820031 Jos Verhulst & Arjen Nijeboer “Direct Democracy: Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and Referendum” Translation: David Calderhead Correction: Paul Carline Layout: Stephan Arnold © The copyright of this publication is arranged by Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5”. You are free to copy and distribute the work under the following conditions: • Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author. • Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No derivative works: You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. More Information: www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our grateful thanks to the following people and bodies for their contribution to the creation of this book. Heiko Dittmer (Antwerp) and Bert Penninckx (Pellenberg) for their support for this project. Michael Efler (Berlin), Matthias Leimeister (Berlin), Michael Macpherson (Berlin), and Frank Rehmet (Hamburg) for their assistance with the research. Gerald Häf- ner (Munich), Paul Carline (Edinburgh), and Michaël Bauwens (Antwerp), respectively, for their contribution of articles to the German, English and Dutch editions. Stephan Arnold (Halle) for his design. Bruno Kaufmann (Falun) for the opportunity he provided to present this book at a series of conferences for the Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe, of which he is director, in the four corners of Europe.

A special word of thanks is due to Aimee Lind Adamiak (Ås), Blaž Babič (Ljubljana), Thomas Benedikter (Bolzano), David Calderhead (Amsterdam), Nicolas E. Fischer (Copenhagen), Amalie Foss (Copenhagen), Louise C. Larsen (Copenhagen), Mira Hettesova (London), Daniel Kmiecik (Lille), An- dreas Linke (Berlin), Juan Carlos Madronal (Madrid), Magdalena Musial-Karg (Poznan) and Lilia Zaharieva (Aachen) for their extensive translation work, and to Paul Carline (Edinburgh), María Jesus Garcia (Madrid), Ronald Pabst (Cologne) and Bartek Wisnewski (Warsaw) for their often extensive proofread- ing and corrections.

Further thanks go to all the people and organisations in Europe who are contributing to the distribution of this publication.

Finally, we would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone whose donations made this publication possible.

Antwerp and Amsterdam, May 2007 Jos Verhulst and Arjen Nijeboer

Contents

Acknowledgements...... 5

1. The hidden power of democracy...... 7

2. What is democracy?...... 12

3. Federalism, subsidiarity and social capital...... 22

4. The democratic person...... 36

5. Lessons from direct democracy in practice...... 47

6. Possible objections to direct democracy...... 68

7. Direct democracy in the United Kingdom...... 85

Bibliography...... 90

About the authors ...... 95

About the publishers of this work ...... 96

1. The hidden power of democracy

The twentieth century will not go down in history as the adapted to the conditions in society. People need each other century of information technology, space travel or nuclear to correct the imperfections in each other’s ideas. The heart power. It will not be remembered as the century of Fascism, of democracy is actually this process of the social shaping of Communism or Capitalism. Nor will it be the century of two perceptions, in which the idea or proposal of a single per- world wars. son, often already accepted by a smaller group (a political party, action group or pressure group), has its pros and cons The twentieth century will be the century of democracy. weighed up by society as a whole. This perception-forming process leads to a choice. But the choice always has to be During the twentieth century, for the first time in history, examined in an historical context; today’s minority can be democracy became a global standard. Make no mistake, the tomorrow’s majority. The actual decisions in relation to the standard has not been really achieved anywhere, and democ- stream of image forming are like the timpani beats within an racy is continually crushed everywhere in the world. How- entire symphony. ever, with a few notable exceptions such as Saudi Arabia and Bhutan, every kind of regime lays claim to its democratic le- In the medium to long term, democratic decisions will be gitimacy. And they do that because they know that democra- socially superior to dictatorial decisions. Morally dubious cy has become the standard for the world’s population. That goals, which do not serve the communal interest, will by is a revolutionary fact. their very nature seek their way via concealed channels that are shielded from the light of open, democratic deci- In the 19th century, democracy was actually still only in its sion-making. Under democratic conditions, the best ideas infancy. The universal single vote system appeared first in will be filtered out, so to speak, because we are better at the United States of America, but until the mid 19th century recognising others’ weaknesses than our own. The process that was generally restricted in most states to white men of selection that occurs along the path of democracy can who owned property. Women and people of colour were not feed into society that which is beneficial to it. This does considered competent to participate in the elections. Only in not mean that the presence of democratic instruments 1870, after the Civil War, were people of colour granted the necessarily guarantees the quality of the moral initiatives constitutional right to vote. American women had to wait un- of individual members of society. We can only trust that til 1920. In the UK, workers rioted and fought hard for many such initiatives will emerge. But it does mean that morally decades until late in the 19th century to achieve the right to worthy aspirations cannot materialise without democracy. vote. Suffragettes demonstrated bravely from 1904 to 1918, Politics can never prescribe morality. But politics can create before women over 30 and all men over 21 were given the democratic instruments that allow the moral potential that right to vote. It was 1928 before this was revised to include is dormant in individuals to be freed and put to work for the all women over 21, and even this was ridiculed as the ‘flapper benefit of society. vote’. In South Africa, too, disasters were predicted in the event that universal voting rights would be implemented! In hindsight, these objections to granting voting rights to work- Evolving democracy ers, women and people of colour seem hollow and pathetic. Democracy is never complete. The rise of democracy should There is a hidden power that lurks in democracy. In recent be seen as an organic process. Democracy cannot stop devel- history, democratic regimes repeatedly resisted apparently oping and deepening, just as a person cannot stop breathing. overpowering dictatorial systems. Time and time again, the A democratic system that remains static and unchanged will more democratic societies ultimately seemed to have the degenerate and become undemocratic. It is just such a proc- greater vitality. ess of ossification that causes society’s current malaise. We have to face up to the fact that democracy in our societies is in dire straights. Two sources of power Our current, purely representative democracy is in fact the Democracy derives its superiority from two sources. response to the aspirations of more than a century ago. This system was suited to that time, because the majority of peo- Firstly, a democratic regime is legitimate. In a real democracy, ple could find their political views and ideals reflected in a the form of the regime is, by definition, sought after by the small number of clear-cut human and social beliefs, which people. It is logical that such a regime can rely on more inter- were embodied in and represented by Christian, socialist or nal support than a dictator. liberal groups, for example. That time is long past. People’s ideas and judgements have become more individualised. Secondly, a democracy is more productive. In an authoritarian regime, the ideas of the majority of citizens have little oppor- The appropriate democratic form in this context is a parlia- tunity to influence decision-making. In a democracy, there is mentary system complemented with the binding citizens’ ini- a much broader base of ideas. tiative referendum (direct democracy), because such a system provides a direct link between individuals and the legisla- Moreover, the selection of ideas is more efficient in a democ- tive and executive organs. The greater the degree to which racy. Democracy is nothing more than the social processing citizens incline towards individual judgements, and political of individual ideas. New ideas always originate with individu- parties lose their monopoly as ideological rallying points, the als, because only individuals can think. But the individual higher will be the demand for tools of direct-democratic deci- ideas have to be considered, weighed against each other and sion-making.

Indeed, a majority of people in Western countries want the with each other in a kind of federalism, the more easily and referendum to be introduced [see 1-1]. This fact alone should effectively can shared perceptions emerge (the link between be decisive in also actually implementing it. Democracy liter- federalism and direct democracy is discussed in more detail ally means: ‘government by the people’ (Oxford English Dic- in chapter 3). Direct democracy and federalism reinforce tionary). The first step towards authentic government by the each other. Together they form a ‘strong democracy’ (Barber people necessarily involves people being able to determine 1984) or ‘integrated democracy’. themselves how this government by the people is designed and put into practice. “Our democracy is a nonsense” Nevertheless, we see that the majority of politicians argue against the referendum [see 1-2]. It is striking that the higher We are currently a long way from such an integrated democ- the level of effective power they possess, the more vigorously racy. Political decision-making generally takes place beyond do many politicians resist the referendum [see 1-3]. In doing the influence and even beyond the cognizance of the citizens. so, they actually adopt the same arguments that were previ- This applies to almost all European states. ously used to oppose the workers’ and women’s right to vote. It can also be shown that these arguments have very little merit. Hans Herbert von Arnim is Professor of Public Law and In chapter 6, we look closely at the main counter-arguments. Constitutional Theory at the University of Speyer in Germa- ny. He has written several books on democracy and politics In fact, however, a glance at direct democracy in practice is suf- and has acquired a reputation for exposing the often sordid ficient to see that the objections are groundless. In Switzerland reality that lies behind the “pretty face of democracy”. In his in particular, a very interesting – albeit by no means perfect book “Das System” (The System; subtitle: ‘The Machinations – example of direct democracy has existed for more than a cen- of Power’), published in 2001, he lifted the lid on the Ger- tury (see chapter 5). The Swiss can launch citizens’ legislative man political system: “If representative democracy means initiatives at all administrative levels. In certain instances, it is government by the people and for the people (Abraham Lin- clear that the citizens are directly opposed to the preferences coln), it quickly becomes apparent that in reality all is not of the political and economic elite. In referendums on consti- well with the basic principles of what is supposed to be the tutional amendments and transferring sovereignty to interna- most liberal democratic social system that has ever existed in tional organisations, which are obligatory in Switzerland, the Germany. The state and politics are on the whole in a condi- voters reject a quarter of the parliament’s proposals; when a tion that only professional optimists or hypocrites can claim citizens’ group collects signatures to force a referendum on is a result of the will of the people. Every German has the ordinary laws, as many as half the legislative proposals are re- freedom to obey laws to which he has never given his as- jected. But the people have not used their democratic rights sent; he can admire the majesty of a constitution to which he to turn Switzerland into an inhuman or authoritarian state! has never granted legitimacy; he is free to honour politicians There is no death penalty in Switzerland and human rights whom no citizen has ever elected, and to provide for them are not threatened in that country. Moreover, Swiss citizens lavishly – with his taxes, about the use of which he has never have no plans to surrender their superior democratic system. been consulted.” The political parties that take decisions in (The Swiss people’s dislike of the European Union is also as- this system have become monolithic institutions, according sociated with the Union’s undemocratic character.) to Von Arnim. The political identification and satisfaction of needs, which in a democracy should proceed from bottom to But direct democracy must not be idealised. It provides no top – from the people to the parliament – is completely in the solutions in itself. Direct democracy does however make grip of the party leaders. Von Arnim also lays blame on the available the essential mechanism for producing useful and system of party funding, in which politicians can personally useable solutions to modern problems. The introduction of determine how much of the tax revenues their parties – pri- direct democracy should not happen out of a mood of sud- vate associations just like any other – can collect. According den euphoria, but in a spirit of ‘active and conscious readi- to Von Arnim, it is not surprising that politicians continue to ness to wait’. ignore the ever-increasing clamour for reform of the political system, because otherwise they would undermine their own Moreover, one should not underestimate the invigorating very comfortable positions of power. impact that will immediately result from a radical choice for the restoration and deepening of democracy. The decision for In Great Britain, the Power Inquiry, a committee set up by more democracy is always also a decision for the right of the social organisations and consisting of both politicians and other to have a voice. It is a declaration of faith in the moral citizens, conducted a large-scale investigation into the state forces and capacities that are latent in ones fellow citizens. In of British democracy, and especially into the reasons why our societies, which are poisoned by mutual distrust, there so many citizens seem to be turning their backs on politics. is almost nothing else imaginable that can have such a heal- They held hearings across the entire country, at which citizens ing effect. The commitment to more direct democracy is by were invited to put forward their opinions, and published the definition a commitment to the other person, to their free- report ‘Power to the People’, which noted: “The one factor felt dom of speech, to their intrinsic dignity. People who are only to cause disengagement that runs through all the strands of interested in achieving their own goals have nothing to gain our investigation is the very widespread sense that citizens from democracy. They would do better to put all their en- feel their views and interests are not taken sufficiently into ac- ergy into proclaiming and propagating their own individual count by the process of political decision-making. The depth point of view. Real democrats are interested in the individual and extent of this perception among the British public can- points of view of others, because they know that people need not be stressed enough. Many, if not all, of the other accepted each other to hone and sharpen their ideas and intuitions, to explanations presented here can also be understood as varia- improve them and elaborate them. This social process of the tions on this theme of weak citizen influence. (…) This view forming and shaping of opinions constitutes the real core of comes through very strongly in the many public submissions democratic life. The closer people are brought into contact received by the Inquiry.” (Power Inquiry, 2006, p. 72).

In 1992, Professor De Wachter carefully mapped out the despise their official representatives.” (Reader’s Digest On- political decision-making processes in Belgium. He con- line, 10 August 2005). According to a Gallup poll, 76% of cluded: “In Belgium, the development of formal democratic Germans consider their politicians dishonest. (Die Zeit, 4 institutions has become stunted. More up-to-date designs August 2005) which would allow citizens to have a lasting impact on decision-making are either denied or at best lead to the failure to A poll by SOFRES in 2003 showed that 90% of French peo- take decisions at all.” (p. 71) “The citizens or voters are weak ple believe that they exert absolutely no influence on national players in the complex and utterly dense social network of political decision-making; 76% also believe this about local political decisions in their country. They lack decisive means politics. (Lire la politique, 12 March 2003) of access to the highest levels of the power hierarchy and to decision-making. Everything is decided for them in an ex- The Belgian sociologist Elchardus surveyed Belgians’ views tremely elitist manner. For people who are open to ideas of on democracy in 1999. He summarised: “A large majority of democratic legitimacy, this assessment is both a disappoint- the voters have the impression that their opinion and their ment and an abdication.” (p. 371) voice do not permeate through politics into the policies. (…) 58% of those questioned had the impression that politicians, In 2002, Dutch journalist Gerard van Westerloo inter- once elected, ‘believe that they are too good for people such viewed Professor Daudt, a celebrated political scientist. as me’. All this leads to more than a quarter of the elector- Daudt is seen as the Nestor of Dutch political science; a ate voicing their absolute distrust: ‘in fact there isn’t a single complete post-war generation of political scientists was politician who I would dare to trust’. Only 15% to 23% of trained by him. Professor Daudt wiped the floor with the the people questioned agreed with positive statements about proposition that the Netherlands was a democracy, dismiss- politics and representation. It would appear to be no exag- ing it as follows. Certainly, Daudt said, the fundamental geration to state that half to three quarters of the electorate rights are respected, but “let’s not use buzzwords to dress feels powerless.” (Elchardus, 1999, p. 36) it up as something that it is not: a democracy with people’s representatives. (…) Our democracy is a nonsense.” Polls held in 2004 by Maurice de Hond in the Netherlands Because van Westerloo wanted to know what Daudt’s col- show that the majority of the Dutch have little faith in the leagues thought about his views, he made a tour of the democratic content of their state. 70% disagreed with the Netherlands, visiting dozens of social administration spe- statement: “Politicians currently listen better than five years cialists and political scientists. Daudt’s view was confirmed ago”. 51% disagreed with the statement: “In the Netherlands, everywhere. In Tilburg, Professor Frissen stated: “In the the voter plays an important role in the functioning of the Netherlands, we are ruled by an arrogant elite, which has national government”; 47% agreed with this. 55% disagreed nothing to do with democracy in the direct-democratic with the statement: “The Netherlands is a real democracy”, sense of the word.” In Groningen, Professor Ankersmit while only 39% agreed with it. Another survey by De Hond said: “Politics in the Netherlands has been driven to the in August 2005 was about corruption. Dutch people believe fringe. Democracy as such can longer be recognised in it.” on average that 12% of the members of parliament and the Professor Tromp from Amsterdam: “Politics in the Nether- government are corrupt, and 18% of municipal and provin- lands is walking down a dead-end street. A crisis is loom- cial politicians. Of the national civil servants, Dutch people ing, which cannot be avoided. Political parties are noth- on average think that 17% are corrupt, compared to 18% of ing more than networks of people who know and support municipal and provincial civil servants. Moreover, a quarter each other.” Professor De Beus from Amsterdam: “The of those questioned admitted to personal experience with legitimacy of Dutch democracy is a large-scale form of self- corruption among politicians or, via acquaintances, having deception and fraud.” Professor Tops from Tilburg: “The knowledge of specific cases (www.peil.nl). political animal in the Netherlands is as good as tamed and domesticated.” Director Voerman of the Documentation In 2002, Gallup organised a mammoth poll on the degree Centre for Dutch Political Parties: “The parliament has of trust of those questioned in 17 social ‘institutions’ – from become nothing more than a rubber stamping machine.” the army and trade unions to parliament and multination- And according to political scientist Baakman from Maas- als. This involved questioning 36,000 people in 47 coun- tricht: “We deceive ourselves that what we call democracy tries. Of all institutions, parliaments appeared to enjoy the also works as democracy.” (Van Westerloo, 2002) least trust: an average of 51% of people had little to no trust, whereas only 38% had a moderate to high level of trust. (De Witte Werf, Spring 2003, p. 11). In 2004, the international Loss of trust corruption watchdog, Transparency International, organised a similar survey in 62 countries, in which no less than The populace in most European states realises that deci- 50,000 people were questioned about which social bodies sion-making is being exercised with little democracy and they considered most sound and which most corrupt. Politi- has largely lost its trust in the democratic nature of the in- cal parties were considered the most corrupt; in 36 of the 62 stitutions. countries they were at the top of this problematic list; with parliaments in second place. (Rotterdams Dagblad, 10 De- In Germany, research by TNS Emnid, commissioned by cember 2004) the Reader’s Digest magazine, showed that citizens’ trust in political parties decreased from 41% to 17% in the ten One should not think, however, that this creeping process of years from 1995 to 2005. Trust in the parliament decreased loss of trust can simply carry on forever. A government that during the same period from 58% to 34%, and trust in the has lost the trust of the majority of the citizens has de facto government from 53% to 26%. “Under the surface, there’s already lost its legitimacy. a big storm brewing”, commented the political scientist Karl-Rudolf Korte. “This is much more than the traditional lack of interest in politics and political parties. People now

1-1: Do people want direct democracy? The majority of people in the USA also want direct democracy. Between 1999 and 2000, the most extensive poll on Yes. There is hardly a single Western country in which there direct democracy that has ever taken place in the USA was is not a (usually large) majority of the people who want di- carried out. In all 50 states it was found that there were rect democracy. at least 30% more supporters than opponents; the average for the whole US was 67.8% for, and 13.2% against, direct In 1995, the ‘State of the Nation’ poll showed that 77% of democracy. It was striking that the more referendums the British people believed that a system must be introduced there were in a state in the 4 years before the survey, the “…whereby certain decisions are put to the people to decide higher was the number of supporters of direct democracy. by popular referendum” (Prospect Magazine, October 1998) In states with few to no referendums, an average of 61% According to a poll published by The Sun (15 March 2003), were supporters; in states with an average number of refer- 84% of British people wanted a referendum on the European endums, 68% were supporters; and states with more than Constitution. At the same time, a poll appeared in the Daily 15 referendums had an average 72% support. “The 1999- Telegraph, according to which 83% of the British people want- 2000 surveys conclusively demonstrate that the experience ed to solve questions of sovereignty by means of national ref- of voting on initiatives and referendums actually increases erendums; only 13% believed that this was the government’s support for the process”, comments Waters (2003, p. 477). job. The Guardian (29 February 2000) published a poll ac- There was also a poll on the desirability of a citizen initiated cording to which 69% of British people wanted a referen- referendum at federal level (the United States is, paradoxi- dum on the new electoral system proposed by Prime Minis- cally, one of the few countries worldwide that never hold ter Blair. This clearly shows that the British people want the national referendums, although direct democracy is quite last word on the organisation of their political system. widespread at the state and local levels). In this poll, 57.7% were supporters and 20.9% opponents. In Germany, more than 4 out of 5 citizens want the citizen- initiated referendum to be introduced nationally. From an Emnid poll in 2005, it became clear that 85% of Germans 1-2: Does the political elite want direct had been won over (Readers Digest, 10 August 2005), and democracy? comparable figures have come from dozens of other polls. In 2004, Emnid also asked Germans whether they wanted a No. From the opinion polls held among politicians, it gen- referendum on the European Constitution; 79% answered erally becomes clear that a majority of them are opponents in the affirmative. Previous polls showed that the German of direct democracy. preference for direct democracy ran through all parties: of SPD voters, 77% were supporters, CDU voters 68%, FDP In Denmark, members of the national parliament were voters 75%, Green voters 69%, PDS voters 75%. (Zeitschrift asked for their opinion on the proposition: “There should für Direkte Demokratie 51 (periodical for direct democracy be more referendums in Denmark.” A large majority of the no. 51), 2001, p. 7) members of parliament was against this. In three parties – the social democrats, left-wing liberals and central demo- According to a SOFRES poll, 82% of French people are in crats – there was even 100% opposition; in addition, 96% favour of the citizen-initiated referendum; 15% are against of the right-wing liberals and 58% of the conservatives were (Lire la politique, 12 March 2003). against. Only a (large) majority from the Socialists and the Danish People’s Party was in favour. (Jyllands Posten news- In the Netherlands, according to an SCP poll in 2002, 81% paper, 30 December 1998) of the voters support introducing the referendum. In 1997, an SCP survey showed that there was a large majority in In 1993, political scientist Tops conducted an opinion poll favour of direct democracy in all four of the biggest political in the Netherlands among municipal council members. parties: 70% of the CDA Christian Democrat voters, 81% of Less than a quarter were in favour of the introduction of the PvdA Labour voters, 83% of VVD right-wing liberal voters, binding referendum (NG Magazine, 31 December 1993). An 86% of D66 left-wing liberal democrat voters (Kaufmann opinion poll carried out by the University of Leiden found and Waters, 2004, p. 131). According to a NIPO poll in April that 36% of all municipal council members were in favour 1998, 73% of the voters wanted a referendum on the intro- of introducing the optional referendum, and 52% were duction of the Euro, and a poll in September 2003 showed against it. Council members from the VVD (right-wing that 80% wanted a referendum on the European Constitu- liberals) and the CDA (Christian democrats) were even tion (which was actually held in 2005). (Nijeboer, 2005). on average 70% against. Only the Green Left (greens) and Moreover, the Dutch people expect a lot from democracy. D66 (left liberals) produced a majority of council members The Nationaal Vrijheidsonderzoek (national freedom sur- in favour of the optional referendum (Binnenlands Bestuur vey) of 2004 shows that the “promotion of democracy” was (domestic government periodical, 18 February 1994). selected most (by 68%) as an answer to the question: “What, according to you, is particularly necessary for world peace?” In Belgium, the Instituut voor Plaatselijke Socialistische Actie (institute for local socialist action) conducted an opinion Gallup polled Europeans in mid-2003 on the desirability of poll among local social-democratic politicians about the a referendum on the European Constitution. 83% of them municipal referendum. Only 16.7% were unconditional considered such a referendum as “indispensable” or “use- supporters of a binding referendum. (De Morgen newspa- ful but not indispensable”; only 12% thought a referendum per, 31 January 1998) “useless”. The percentage in favour was even higher among young people and those with higher education (Witte Werf, Research by Kaina (2002) provides an interesting insight autumn 2003, p. 15) into the dynamics of elite support. She examined the will-

10 ingness of various elites in Germany to introduce direct was opposed to introduction. By 1972, the situation had democracy. She divided them into a political elite, a trade changed: Baden-Württemberg was now ruled by a coalition union elite and an entrepreneurs’ elite, among others. Of of Christian democrats and liberals. When the prospect of the total elite, 50% expressed a “high” or “very high” degree a change to the constitution was presented, the SPD took of support for direct democracy (among the general public, the initiative to also introduce referendums. This created this is considerable higher, at 84%). There are large differ- fierce opposition from the CDU. The peculiar situation ences between the various elites, however. In the trade un- emerged in which the SPD and CDU now adopted the very ion elite, 86% expressed either a ‘high’ or a ‘very high’ level same positions their opponents had held twenty years ear- of support, but in the entrepreneurs’ elite, the level of sup- lier. There was ultimately a compromise: the referendum port was only 36%. Among the political elite we see a picture was introduced in principle, but with a gigantic threshold. of extremes. In the post-communist PDS and the Greens, In order to force a referendum, one sixth of the voters of ‘high-very high’ support was no less than 100%; with the Baden-Württemberg must register their signatures at the social democratic SPD it was 95%, and with the liberal FDP town halls or council offices within a period of two weeks. 78%, but in the CDU/CSU only 34%. (In fact, a majority Predictably, of course, not a single referendum came about in the German parliament has already approved an amend- during the subsequent decades. In 1994, a citizens’ group ment to the constitution that introduces a fairly good direct- wrote very politely: “Unfortunately, in view of this shifting democratic system; unfortunately, a two-thirds majority is of position, one cannot help thinking that whether a party required and it is particularly the CDU politicians who have was for or against referendums in the past was primarily blocked it.) If we look at the voters, however, all the parties dependent on whether that party was viewing the issue without exception have a large majority support for direct from a government or an opposition perspective.” (Stutt- democracy. The conclusion: CDU politicians do not repre- garter Memorandum, 1994, p. 23). sent the people on this point and not even their own voters, but appear to be bowing to the wishes of the business elite. It is not only the division between opposition and government parties that plays a role. In the Belgian opinion poll carried out in 1998 by the Instituut voor Plaatselijke Social- 1-3: Political power and direct democracy istische Actie mentioned above, it also appeared that local politicians with an executive mandate (mayors and alder- What many politicians think about whether and to what ex- men) regarded the referendum even less favourably than tent referendums are desirable is very much linked to their politicians with a representative mandate (municipal coun- own proximity to political power. The more power they have cillors), regardless of whether the latter belonged to the op- acquired within a representative system, the more they seem position or the ruling coalition parties. (De Morgen newspa- to oppose direct democracy. Some examples of this follow. per, 31 January 1998)

In Sweden, only five referendums in total were held during Incidentally, the introduction of direct democracy is not the the course of the 20th century. The positions of the most im- only issue on which political parties routinely change their portant Swedish parties – the Socialist party and the Con- standpoint depending on their share of power. The same servative party – varied according to whether or not they phenomenon applies to the issue of limitations on the were in power at the time. Before the Second World War, number of times a representative may hold the same office. the Swedish Conservative party was strictly against the ref- Among American voters, approximately 75% advocate lim- erendum; after the war, when this party was in opposition ited re-electability. By contrast, only 18% of the members of for decades, it became an advocate of referendums. With the individual state parliaments were in favour, with 76% the Swedish Socialist party, things developed in exactly the being against any restriction. Among professional lobby- opposite direction: this party began to reject the referen- ists, no less than 86% were in favour of unlimited re-electa- dum from the moment they gained an absolute majority bility. This is not surprising, because limited re-electabil- in the Swedish ‘Rikstag’. Ruin (1996, p. 173) summarises it ity threatens the ‘old boys’ network that is so essential to a as follows: “Parties that belong to the opposition or occupy good lobbyist. One lobbyist even stated explicitly: “Lobby- a subordinate position display the tendency to defend the ists agree with the contention of the advocates of limited re- referendum. Parties that sit in government or hold an ex- electability: this measure would sever the established links ecutive position tend to display a dismissive attitude.” and interfere with the work of interest groups” (O’Keefe 1999). In Flanders, the system of limited re-electability In Baden-Württemberg, the Christian Democrats (CDU) was originally part of the core doctrine of the Agalev green landed in the opposition after the Second World War. When party. This party believed that mandate holders should only the constitution for this German state was being drawn up be allowed to renew their mandate once. When it came to in 1952-1953, the CDU argued for the introduction of the the crunch and some electoral heavyweights saw their po- referendum. The ruling majority at that time, in which the sitions threatened by this measure, the party position was socialist SPD was the most important partner, however, immediately modified.

11 2. What is democracy?

Democracy varies from country to country, from age to age. Thomas Paine already refuted this view in The Rights of Man A hundred years ago, the universal single vote system for (1791): “It has been thought a considerable advance towards men was disputed and votes for women appeared unthink- establishing the principles of freedom to say that govern- able. It now seems inexplicable that a time ever existed when ment is a compact between those who govern and those who women were not allowed to vote and a rich man might have are governed; but this cannot be true, because it is putting more votes than a poor man. The same will happen with the the effect before the cause; for as man must have existed be- referendum. The time will come when nobody will remem- fore governments existed, there necessarily was a time when ber that there were earlier times when the people were not governments did not exist, and consequently there could able to decide their fate directly. originally exist no governors to form such a compact with. The fact therefore must be that the individuals themselves, Democracy evolves. What – after the diversity of forms of each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a democracy in different countries – are currently the essen- compact with each other to produce a government: and this tial characteristics of democracy? What enables a democracy is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, to be distinguished from a non-democracy? A dictator who and the only principle on which they have a right to exist.” calls himself ‘democratic’ is still a dictator. There have to be (Paine, 1791, 1894, part 2, p. 309). A ‘social contract’ is there- objective criteria to make the distinction possible. We call the fore a contract between citizens, and a political system only entirety of these criteria the ‘archetype’ of democracy. emerges as a result of this.

How can citizens enter into a social contract with each oth- In search of the archetype er? Obviously they must come together, discuss it and agree it. This creates the first specific instance of the democratic Democracy means: ‘government by the people’. There are, of meeting: the public assembly. course, many other forms of ‘government’ or state power. In an ‘oligarchy’, for instance, a small elite group governs. In a These public assemblies are also an historical reality. In ‘timocracy’, the rich people rule. In a ‘theocracy’, God is sup- some small communities, for instance in the United States posed to exercise the power. and Switzerland, public assembly still plays a role today [see 2-1]. It is clear that the public assembly as such cannot work The term ‘democracy’ gained a much more positive recep- in a modern constitutional state with millions of citizens. tion from the twentieth century onwards. Virtually all states But, at the same time, the public assembly still provides an refer in one way or another to the democratic ideal, even if initial practical example of the democratic ideal. Therefore, their regime is totalitarian. Democracy has prevailed, at least let us first examine the essential characteristics of the demo- at the ideal level. Things were different in the 18th century. cratic public assembly. ‘Democrat’ was a frequent term of abuse in those days.

Because state power is expressed via legislation, ‘democracy’ The principles of the public assembly means that the people make the laws. In a democracy, the laws derive their authority from the fact that the people ap- Certain principles exist in every democratic public assembly. prove them in one way or another. The legislative power in an oligarchy relies on the approval of a minority, and on divine The principle of equality blessing in a theocracy. In a democracy, there is no authority higher than the people. The principle of equality forms the basis of the public assembly: all mature (in the sense of accountable) members of Laws impose obligations, not on the people as a whole, but cer- the community can take part in the public assembly and are tainly on individual citizens. The individual members of socie- accorded equal weight in the decision-making. ty are expected to recognise the authority of the law because in principle they also had the opportunity to help shape the law. It is not easy to base this principle of equality on a positive This is how we arrive at Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of principle. It is, however, very easy to establish the princi- the ‘social contract’: legislation is the result of a social contract ple of equality in a negative way. After all, the democratic between equal and responsible citizens. In the democratic view, ideal is based on the fundamental principle that there is no a law is only legitimate when those who are expected to comply with authority higher than the people. This principle means by the law are also able to contribute to shaping that law. definition that all appear as equals. If some of those attending have more weight than others in the decision-making, The concept of the ‘social contract’ is best approached ‘nega- merely by virtue of who they are, we find ourselves back in tively’, so to speak – by a process of elimination. If the author- the oligarchy. ity of legislation is not derived from the authority of God, of the nobility, of owners of land, money or knowledge, then the So each mature person’s vote has the same weight. The his- social contract is the only remaining possibility. Laws derive tory of democracy in the twentieth century was largely a bat- their authority from the fact that there are voluntary agree- tle for this principle, a battle that was conducted mainly on ments made between the members of the legal community. three fronts: the universal single vote system (in which each person, regardless of their possessions, age or competence Politicians often refer to the ‘social contract’ as an agreement receives an equal vote); women’s right to vote; and the right between the people and the politicians. The contract is then to vote regardless of distinguishing biological features (e.g. renewed at each election, so to speak. But the philosopher voting rights for the coloured people in South Africa).

12 The right of initiative a greater insight, a superior knowledge, than that of the indi- The right of initiative means that every member of the public vidual citizen”. (Quoted by Dewachter, 2003, p. 30) assembly has an equal right to submit proposals. Therefore, the public assembly’s agenda is not set by an elite. For this clear expression of the elitist idea behind purely representative democracy, Dehler was applauded not only by Christian The right of initiative is nothing less than a special applica- Democrats, but also by Liberals and Socialists. The difference tion of the principle of equality. It does not mean that the with totalitarian systems in this context is that, in a purely parlia- submission of proposals cannot be bound by rules. For ex- mentary system, the elite must obtain a formal majority from the ample, such rules could specify that a proposal must be sub- people. What the pure parliamentary system and the totalitarian mitted 14 days before the meeting, or that a proposal must be system have in common, however, is that they allow the imple- signed by at least a hundred members of the meeting. What mentation of laws against the will of the majority of the people. is essential is that the rules are the same for everyone. The mandate principle Majority rule Continuous unanimity is unachievable in a democracy. That is In the ideal situation, there is unanimity: everyone agrees why majority rule is part of the democratic ‘archetype’. But there with a proposal. However, unanimity will not usually be is still another problem. Universal participation in the demo- achievable. That is why majority rule is used. It is a conse- cratic decision-making process will also be unachievable. There quence of the principle of equality and stems from the desire will always be members of the community who do not want to to minimise disorder: by applying majority rule one achieves take part in deciding on certain matters: because they don’t have the smallest number of dissatisfied people. One could also the time, because they believe that they have insufficient knowl- argue that any solution other than simple majority rule es- edge, or because they have other reasons for not doing so. So, in sentially denies the principle of equality. After all, if we work addition to majority rule, the mandate rule is also introduced: with a qualified (e.g. two-thirds) majority, this means that a those who do not participate in the public assembly are consid- minority can deny the majority its wishes – for example if 60 ered to have given a mandate to those who do take part. percent want option A and 40 percent want option B. The mandate rule cannot be avoided by imposing compulsory Majority rule has an existential dimension. By accepting this voting or compulsory attendance (moreover, such compulsory rule, we recognise human shortcomings. The existence of the attendance is undesirable; see inset 6-2). Even if it is decreed minority shows that the discussion and perception-forming by law that all members of the community must participate in process has been incomplete. At the same time, the majority the public assembly, an arrangement must always be made for principle reminds us of the fact that democracy must always those who do not honour this obligation. The public assembly’s be perceived as an historical process. Today’s minority may be decisions will always be binding on the absentees as well. tomorrow’s majority. Most new ideas initially meet with resistance and rejection, but may later become generally accepted. Thus, the mandate principle has nothing to do with the differ- Majority rule can actually only operate properly when it is suf- ence between representative decision-making and direct-dem- ficiently understood in the society or community in historical ocratic decision-making. The mandate principle is a direct con- terms. When a decision made by a majority against a minority sequence of the fact that, by definition, laws apply to everyone is perceived by that majority as an absolute ‘triumph’, outside in the community. In other words: I cannot deny that a law of all historical perspective, the quality of democracy suffers. applies to me personally by using the argument that I did not take part in the creation of the law. By forgoing participation in The majority rule is at odds with all elitist tendencies. Authori- the decision-making on the law, I am automatically considered tarian movements never recognise majority rule. They always to have given a mandate to those who actually made the deci- foster one or other image of an ‘avant-garde’ or elite that can sion. Without this principle, every individual could withdraw impose its will on the majority. Leninists will speak of the spear- from the applicability of laws at their own discretion. head role of the communist party and of the dictatorship of the proletariat. National-socialists will point to elites based on racial In a direct-democratic decision-making process via a public characteristics. Religious fundamentalists will reject equal rights assembly, therefore – from a formal perspective – there are for women and dissidents, even if they constitute the majority. always two decisions to be made: • first a mandate decision is made: each citizen decides either In a mitigated, but even so still very real form, this elitist that he or she will personally take part in the ‘ad hoc parlia- principle also exists among the supporters of so-called rep- ment’ that will make the decision, or that he or she man- resentative democracy. Dewachter (1992, p. 70) puts it as dates fellow citizens (which is done by not taking part); follows: “According to the basic concept of ‘parliamentary • secondly, the public assembly then makes the decision democracy’, the decisions are taken by a selection of ‘phi- about the issue under discussion. losopher-princes’. Representatively distributed throughout the entire territory, a sample of representatives of the people From public assembly to referendum is elected. Yet the elected members themselves are no longer representative; they are not average, but are the best. The Up to this point we have assembled the following elements parliament is the assembly of the best of the nation.” The that are unavoidable components for the operation of the former Justice Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, public assembly and which we can consider as elements of Thomas Dehler, expressed this like this: “In my opinion, it is the ‘archetype of democracy’: a misapprehension of the nature of democracy to believe that • the principle of equality parliament is the executor of the people’s will. I think that • the principle of popular sovereignty (there is no authority the nature of representative democracy is something quite higher than the people); different: it is actually a parliamentary aristocracy. Members • majority rule of parliament have the duty and the opportunity to act from • the mandate principle

13 The public assembly is not practical in a modern democratic Representative democracy is essentially a technique for solv- state, except at the local level. But that is not a problem. The ing this mandate problem. Representative democracy must be public assembly as a type of democracy can happily be surren- implemented as soon as the citizens have too little time or in- dered. What is essential is that the fundamental elements of the terest to cooperate in a decision that still has to be made. The archetype of democracy are retained. The public assembly is only costs to society for a referendum on each separate subject are, one of the possible manifestations of the underlying archetype. at a certain time, according to the citizens themselves, too high in proportion to the democratic benefit (direct access to decision- The public assembly model has its limitations. Beyond a cer- making for every citizen). That is why the citizens appoint a tain size of population, the town square simply becomes too fixed parliament for several years; it receives the mandate to small. As a result, the public debate must take place some- make decisions on all the matters that the citizens do not want where else: via the media, via district meetings, etc. The de- to decide directly. The election of the parliament is therefore a bate will last longer and be of a less direct nature. This is special type of direct-democratic decision: the citizens decide more of an advantage than a drawback. There is more time who will decide, and under what conditions, on the issues for for consultation, more opportunity to see through false ar- which the people want to delegate the mandate. guments. Furthermore, we will no longer vote by a show of hands, but in ‘the privacy’ of the voting booth. This type of se- The mandate received by the parliament is, therefore, a special cret ballot is undeniably a great benefit: everyone can express manifestation of the mandate given to the effective voters in di- his or her opinion free from social pressure. rect-democratic decision-making by the entire community. In direct-democratic decision-making (referendum), the effective Through these two changes, the public assembly is trans- voters form as it were an enormous ad hoc parliament that is formed into a referendum. A referendum is essentially a public mandated to decide on the subject. The only difference with assembly in which the participants no longer come together physi- representative decision-making (voting in the parliament) is cally. But, at the same time, the citizens’ initiative referen- that the parliament received its mandate some time before dum still retains all the essential characteristics of the public the vote, and the mandate is given for a specific period of assembly: the principle of equality, the right of initiative, ma- time. It is clear that this separation of mandating and decid- jority rule and the mandate principle. ing is not fundamental. But it is, however, essential to understand that the parliament and the community of voters in a It is interesting that in historical terms – particularly in referendum have the same basis both logically and formally. Switzerland – this transition from public assembly to referendum has also occurred by public initiative: “In many cantons, the referendum and initiative devices were viewed as The relationship between referendum an acceptable replacement for direct communal assemblies and parliamentary decision-making and cantonal ‘Landsgemeinden’. Population growth was making this type of public assembly impractical. In some The introduction of the representative parliament raises a cantons, such as Schwyz and Zug in 1848, the substitution new problem. How does one determine which issues the was immediate and direct, with the referendum introduced citizens still wish to decide directly? as the Landsgemeinde was withdrawn.” (Kobach, 1994, p. 100-101) The supporters of the purely representative system have their answer ready. They argue that the parliament is all-powerful and they reject the referendum. This severely damages the Representative democracy principle of popular sovereignty included in the archetype of democracy. In the purely representative system it is once But the referendum also has its limits. We cannot hold refer- again possible to pass laws that are wanted by an elite, but endums on every issue: the costs to society of direct decision- which are rejected by the majority. As soon as the parliament making are just too great. Not only does each referendum is installed, it can act freely against the will of the majority. cost money. More importantly, each referendum demands The right of initiative, which follows directly from the princi- time and effort from the citizens: they must use their best ple of equality, is rescinded. capacities to form an opinion about the issue that is under discussion, and then cast their votes. The defenders of the ‘purely representative system’ justify this system with two main arguments. Of course, overtaxed citizens can refrain from voting in the referendum and, by doing so, provide a mandate to those An imposed mandate is no mandate at all who do vote. If there are too few people interested, however, this procedure is also unusable. It is absurd to organise a First of all, the defenders of the ‘purely representative system’ national referendum on a matter for which only a handful state that the citizens give a mandate to those elected and of voters eventually show up. Not only is the public assembly that, as a result, the latter now possess the right to decide. unworkable, but even the systematic use of the referendum becomes impracticable. In doing so, they ignore the fact that this type of imposed mandate creates an internal contradiction. A legitimate mandate, Thus another solution has to be found. The essential question just like a legitimate gift, can only be given voluntarily. This in this context is: when the referendum is an unsuitable meth- voluntariness also means that the citizen must be free not to od for making decisions, who will then actually make those de- provide a mandate, but to opt for direct decision-making via a cisions? The mandate problem with the referendum normally referendum. An imposed mandate is a sham mandate. solves itself: those entitled to vote and who actually do vote receive the mandate of society. Because everyone is free to accept An analogy can clarify this. Imagine that you are held up at this mandate or not, the principle of equality is not violated. But night by five muggers who demand your wallet. They do, who is given the mandate if the referendum doesn’t take place? however, leave you the choice of which mugger you surren-

14 der your money to. You hand over your money out of sheer ments – which polls across the whole of Europe repeatedly necessity to the least unpleasant, who is later arrested by the highlight – would be completely inexplicable. There are no police. Then, during the confrontation, the man says to you: mandataries in the real sense of the word sitting in parlia- “I didn’t steal your wallet at all; you gave me the wallet of ment; there are leaders, however, who are elected in prefer- your own free will. After all, you were entirely free not to give ence to others by the voters, simply because the electorate is me the wallet.” The perversity of this argument is clear. You now forced to elect someone and just votes for the person (or were indeed free to either give or not to give the money to this party) least likely to do any damage. particular villain. But you were, however, forced (by the villain concerned, among others) to surrender the wallet anyway Thus there is a fundamental difference between political par- – against your will. You were denied the freedom to keep the ties that support the binding citizens’ initiative referendum wallet yourself. Replace the robbers in this analogy by politi- and those that resist its introduction. The latter must really cal parties, and the wallet by your right to participate directly be considered as vested power interests. Only those parties in the decision-making process, and you get the argument in which unconditionally support the introduction of the bind- favour of purely representative decision-making. Just as your ing citizens’ initiative referendum can be considered to be freedom to surrender your wallet was a sham freedom, the authentically democratic, in the literal sense that they strive mandate in a purely representative system is a sham man- for an authentic form of ‘people power’. date, precisely because it is imposed. In this context, Frie- drich Nietzsche wrote: “Parliamentarianism, i.e. the official permission to be allowed to choose from among five political Parliament and referendums points of view, is popular among the many who would like to seem independent and individualistic in fighting for their The purely representative system, therefore, cannot be con- views to prevail. Ultimately, however, it makes no difference sidered to be truly democratic. This system necessitates, a whether the herd has an opinion imposed on it, or that five priori, the appointment of a decision-making elite and opens opinions are permitted.” (Nietzsche, 1882, 1999, p. 500) up the possibility for introducing laws that are contrary to the will of the people. The notion of ‘purely representative democracy’ is an internal contradiction (comparable with the term ‘square circle’), Nevertheless, the representative system can operate reasonably especially if the majority of people want direct decision-mak- well in one special situation. When the large majority of the ing. If the majority of people want direct decision-making, a voters approves a purely representative system and if, moreo- purely representative system is undemocratic by definition, ver, the majority of citizens principally identify with one of the because by its very nature such a system is contrary to the existing political parties, the purely representative system is will of the majority (because ‘being square’ implies the pres- reasonably legitimate (because it is desired by the citizens). ence of corners, a circle cannot be square by definition, be- This situation existed to a greater or lesser extent, perhaps, in cause the circle – by its very nature – has no corners). many Western countries until approximately the 1960s.

Setting up a party oneself But times have changed. The majority of citizens do want referendums and most people no longer clearly identify them- Supporters of purely representative decision-making still selves with one political party or other (see inset 1-1). The have a second argument. They say that everyone is still free to system of political decision-making remains unchanged, but set up a party themself and to stand for a parliamentary seat. the democratic deficit is still drastically increasing, because in this system the people’s ability to express their social con- However, this response ignores the principle of the people’s victions continues to be eroded. sovereignty. Popular sovereignty starts with the people’s opportunity to be able to determine how a decision is made. This can only be resolved by introducing the binding citi- It is very possible that the large majority of the people want zens’ initiative referendum. In conjunction with the repre- to express their opinion on a specific issue directly, while sentative system, the binding citizens’ initiative referendum only very few people aspire to have a seat in parliament. In can provide a system that, on the one hand, contains the es- a democracy, this wish should be respected. Anyone who de- sential characteristics of the public assembly (equality, right crees, against the wishes of the majority, that direct decision- of initiative, majority rule, mandate principle) and, on the making is not permitted and that one must achieve changes other, is still usable in a modern society. However, we must by taking a seat in parliament, puts themselves above and in then introduce some new principles that determine how rep- opposition to the people and violates the sovereignty of the resentative and direct-democratic decision-making interact people. If the people want to decide on a specific issue and with each other. In particular, if we want to retain the essen- this is made impossible, then the people are clearly not the tial advantage of representative democracy (no popular vote ruling power. When an elite refuses the majority of citizens on every issue), the citizens must be required to demonstrate the desired opportunity to make decisions directly, and puts an active interest in direct decision-making. The parliament forward the setting up of a personal party as an ‘alternative’, or representative body would be considered to possess a man- then they are patronising the majority and there is no ques- date for all those issues on which the citizens do not actively tion of democracy. make known their desire for direct decision-making.

Research into the motivation for voting behaviour shows in If a group of citizens wants to obtain a referendum on a cer- no uncertain terms that the majority of voters do not vote just tain matter, therefore, they must prove that a clear desire for because they want to grant a mandate [see 2-2]. The majority direct decision-making does actually exist among the people. of the electorate vote strategically: given the existing system, In practice, this evidence is provided through the collection which leaders appear to be least harmful? If the votes were of signatures to apply for a referendum. In Switzerland, for actually to be cast in a spirit of granting democratic man- example, a referendum is held at the federal level if 2% of the dates, the current mistrust of the people towards their parlia- electorate request it.

15 Hierarchy of laws is made with participation quorums is that the people who stay at home are counted as either supporters or opponents A law that is approved by referendum must be higher in the (depending on the referendum). In reality, they have chosen legal hierarchy than laws passed by parliament. There is an not to voice their opinion. That must be respected. additional provision that a law approved directly by the people cannot subsequently be scrapped by parliament. After all, Finally, we can also note that the turnout for a referendum if a referendum is held, this means that the people want to must not be compared with the turnout for elections. In elec- express their own opinions about the issue concerned. With tions, all kinds of issues are on the agenda or in the party the referendum, the democratic mandate is consequently manifestos: the current ones and all the new topics that may placed in the hands of the voters and not in those of the present themselves in the next four or five years. A referen- members of parliament. dum has only one specific issue on the agenda, so it is logical that the turnout for this is lower than for elections. In Switzerland, this superiority of the people’s law is regulated at federal level by including the people’s law as part of the con- Arguments are sometimes put forward for a low quorum, stitution. Because the Swiss constitution can only be changed precisely to avoid possible boycotting. However, this stand- via a referendum, this means that a decision by the people can point is illogical. Either a quorum is so low that it is bound to only be abolished by another decision by the people. The disad- be met: then, to be sure, boycotting is ruled out – but at the vantage is, however, that the Swiss constitution has developed same time the quorum itself is pointless. Or the quorum is into a strange mixture of general provisions (such as those that so high that it is unlikely ever to be achieved: then boycotting usually tend to appear in a constitution) and very specific stipu- is possible. There is no third possibility. lations (that are normally regulated by ordinary laws). It also needs to be remembered that participation quorums That serious problems can arise on this point is shown by the are basically impossible for parliamentary or municipal coun- example of Oregon. The binding citizens’ initiative referen- cil elections. After all, if such a quorum were not to be met, dum exists in this US state but, by simple majority, the state the legislative and administrative system would just grind to parliament can abolish laws that are made by referendum. a halt. There are no good reasons for not having a quorum for This has actually happened. In 1988, for example, a people’s this kind of election but insisting on one for referendums. If initiative was carried which provided for longer prison sen- the group making a decision by referendum is required to tences for violent criminals. This law was subsequently re- be ‘sufficiently representative’, then the same requirement pealed by the legislative chambers. must apply a fortiori (even more stringently) for parliamentary elections. Suppose that a participation quorum of 25% is A popular initiative was later launched (Measure 33) in an set for a referendum and at the same time no quorum is set attempt to prevent this type of occurrence. It proposed the for parliamentary elections. A referendum in which 20% of following: the electorate votes will be declared invalid. But a parliament • laws created on the basis of a people’s initiative can only be that is elected by only 5% of the electorate, however, can still changed in the first five years by another people’s initiative; make ‘legitimate’ decisions – decisions based on an indirect • after five years, a change can only be implemented if it se- citizen participation of 5% – whereas the rejected referen- cures at least 60% of the votes in both legislative chambers dum result can boast a direct citizen participation of 20%. (Senate and House of Representatives). That is illogical. Moreover, the mandate that is given to parliament is much more far-reaching than the mandate given However, the proposal was rejected by only a narrow margin to the voters by those who stay at home in a referendum. in November 1996. After all, nothing can be said with certainty about what far- reaching decisions will be made by all the members of parliament. During the course of a parliamentary sitting, new Participation quorums topics and draft legislation that could not have been foreseen are constantly being put onto the agenda. In view of the mandate principle, it is absurd to introduce participation quorums for direct decision-making. The citi- Finally, some supporters of a participation quorum refer to the zens who do not take part in a vote are considered to have so-called danger of ‘compartmentalisation’. By this they mean given a mandate to those who do. If one introduces participa- that citizens would only vote for the issues which their own tion quorums, one opens the door to boycott actions by mi- group is concerned about. For instance, in a referendum on norities. Suppose, for instance, that there is a participation an action plan to deal with farmyard manure, only the small quorum of 40% and that 60% of the electorate want to vote. section of the population who are cattle farmers would vote. Within the group keen to vote, 55% support the proposal to be voted on and 45% oppose it. The opponents cannot win This objection rests on the false premise that people only the vote if they take part in the referendum. But if they stay vote to defend their own group’s interests. The reality is dif- at home, however, they can ‘win’, because then the 40% quo- ferent (see chapter 6, point b). In countries or states without rum will not be achieved and the proposal will be rejected, participation quorums, such as Switzerland and California, against the will of the majority [see 2-2]. there is no evidence of ‘compartmentalisation’. The practical progress of direct-democratic votes makes any ‘compartmen- We have seen that the parliamentary mandate is only a de- talisation effect’ improbable a priori. For example, on any rived form of the mandate which the effective voters receive one referendum voting day in Switzerland there are almost in direct-democratic decision-making. A parliament contains always several referendum issues to be voted on at the same on average only about 0.003% of the population and yet it time. These referendums are on the most diverse subjects can still make decisions. So it makes no sense to suddenly in- and concern not only the federal and cantonal levels, but also troduce participation quorums of 20% or 40% for the ad hoc the municipal level. Thus people are not normally called to parliament that is formed by a referendum. The mistake that the ballot box for the sake of one single specialised issue.

16 On the contrary, it is the parliamentary system that is highly The political elite has a strong tendency, prompted by dis- exposed to the temptation of compartmentalisation. Inter- trust, to exclude direct-democratic decision-making for cer- esting examples of this are precisely the farmyard manure tain subjects. One finds this attitude not only among political action plan or the prohibition of tobacco advertising in Bel- leaders, but also among academics and professors. An exam- gium. Economic interest groups can, via their contacts with ple is the ‘Recommendation issued by the scientific commit- a small group of ‘specialised’ members of parliament, exer- tee of the commission for political renewal’ (2000) for the cise unprecedented pressure on the decision-making. Direct- committee of Belgian members of parliament who are con- democratic decision-making would make it much more dif- cerned with political renewal. In this we can read: “Tax mat- ficult for such interest groups to play a winning hand. ters are excluded from a popular vote in most countries; the reason is based on the justified fear that in the referendum The quorum in the parliament or the popular consensus the people will almost always opt for a lowering of the expenses they bear, whereas at the same Sometimes the participation quorum for referendums is de- time they demand that the government provide the same or fended by making a comparison with the quorum that ap- even better services”. Following on from this, the professors plies in many parliaments. Votes in the parliament are often advocate the exclusion of issues that exclusively or mainly only valid provided at least 50% of the members of parlia- concern tax or budgetary topics. Their argument is not only ment cast their vote. In the analogy, a popular vote could only anti-democratic; it is also false to the extent that they do not be valid provided at least 50% of the people cast their votes. mention the clearly contradictory example of Switzerland. Here there are no restrictions on referendums on tax issues, The analogy is false, however. We have seen that the parliament without this adversely affecting the national budget (see also is logically equivalent to those who vote in a referendum, not chapters 5 and 6). with the total number of people entitled to vote. A member of parliament has a current contract with the citizens: he or she has entered into this contract for a specific period to undertake Right of petition the social decision-making insofar as the citizens themselves do not want to decide. The Member of Parliament (MP) must theo- Smaller groups of citizens (e.g. 0.1% of the electorate, about retically always be present at the votes in the parliament, there- 45,000 signatures in Great Britain) must be able to put some- fore. If he or she intentionally stays away, this is a breach of the thing onto the parliamentary agenda (right of petition), even contract with the voters. The 50% quorum in the parliament is a if insufficient signatures were collected to obtain a referen- weak reflection of this obligation. It is not a happy arrangement, dum. This is a direct result of the nature of the parliament because it works in favour of the polarisation between majority itself: it is the institution where decisions are made about and minority in the parliament. In its turn, this polarisation is socially relevant issues on which the citizens themselves do irreconcilable with the contract that exists between members of not want to decide. The fact that several thousand citizens parliament from the minority, and their voters. If these mem- submit a petition already makes the subject into a socially bers of parliament are part of the minority, they can justifiably relevant issue. claim that their presence in the parliament is pointless: they can never affect the decisions. These members of parliament The right of petition and the citizens’ initiative referendum are, therefore, unable to honour their contracts with the voters, are linked in a multi-stage direct-democratic procedure. A which is not their own fault, but a result of blocking by their col- citizens’ initiative starts as a petition group. If, for example, leagues from the majority. It would be better to replace the 50% 43,800 signatures are collected, the citizens’ proposal en- quorum in the parliament by a rule in which the absence of a ters parliament as a petition. If the parliament adopts the member of parliament would be sanctioned by dismissal and proposal, the initiative ends. In the other case, the citizens’ replacement by an unelected candidate from a different party. initiative can force a referendum if it has a higher number of signatures (e.g. 2% of the electorate, around 900,000 in Great Britain). The voters must then also be informed of the The referendum’s area of authority parliament’s recommendations or considerations, which will certainly form a significant part of the social debate. The par- It must be possible to hold a referendum on all the issues for liament can also be granted the right to submit an alternative which a representative decision is also possible. It is in con- proposal in addition to the people’s proposal. Then, in the flict with the right of initiative to deny the citizens the right referendum, the voters have the choice between three alter- to direct decision-making on certain issues. However, direct natives: the status quo, the people’s proposal, or the parlia- decision-making must be subject to the restrictions that also mentary alternative (this type of system exists in Switzerland apply to representative decision-making. Three points are es- and Bavaria). This kind of measure can ensure that there is a pecially important in this context: closer bond between the parliament and the people (see also • The decision-making must occur at the proper level. For chapter 6, point e). example, one cannot reform the social security system at provincial level, or abolish the generation of nuclear power at municipal level. • The proposals to be voted on must be in accordance with the basic rights and freedoms as established in the constitution and the international treaties concerning human rights. • However, the people must have the right to change the constitution by referendum and must also be given direct-democratic control over entering into treaties. Treaties must always be subject to a time limit and be terminable. In any other case, the people’s sovereignty would be restricted in an unacceptable manner.

17 2-1: The public assembly. ‘généralité’ i.e. to the general assembly of those citizens called upon to express their views on all matters which af- The public assembly is the oldest and simplest manifesta- fected the interests of the town community, over and above tion of democracy. the day-to-day administration.” (Lecomte 2003, p. 154).

In the Athens of Pericles (450 to 430 BC), the public as- At least 85% of Swiss municipalities are nowadays still sembly (ekklesia) was the highest authority, approving managed through the public assembly (Kriesi 1992, p. 113). the laws and making decisions on war and peace. The At the cantonal level, the public assembly (Landsgemeinde) Athenian public assembly permitted no representation now exists only in Appenzell and Glarus. These assemblies that would take over its role or authority. The principle of date from the late Middle Ages (the oldest document con- equality had not yet appeared. Only ‘citizens’ (in the mean- taining decisions made by a Landsgemeinde dates from ing of the word at that time) were admitted to the pub- 1294) and are possibly historically connected with the Old lic assembly; slaves were excluded. In Pericles’ time there Germanic or Scandinavian tradition of the ‘Thing’. were around 30,000 citizens, compared with 100,000 to 250,000 slaves. Not all the citizens had equal votes: pos- The Landsgemeinde of the Appenzell Innerrhoden canton sessions played a major role. meets once a year on Appenzell’s central market square on the last Sunday in April. All citizens aged 18 and over can Similar public assemblies emerged at many places in Eu- attend (until 1992, the minimum age was 20). Generally, rope in the late Middle Ages. Lecomte (1995, 2003), for ex- 25% to 35% of the citizens entitled to vote turn out, which is ample, describes the practices in the small Belgian town some 3,000 people. If there are controversial issues on the of Fosses-la-Ville, when this belonged to the diocese of the agenda, this number usually increases. Voting is by a show principality of Liège. We know about the exact organisation of hands, in which the ‘abmehren’ (checking who has the of the local administration in Fosses-la-Ville from a char- majority) sometimes runs into problems. ter of 11 December 1447. The day-to-day management of the town was performed by a municipal council that was Besides the election of the Standeskommission (governing elected once a year. council), the Landamman (a type of president of the council) and the Kantonsgericht (cantonal court), mandatory items The heads of the town’s households assembled for this pur- on the agenda of the Landsgemeinde are the following: pose at the lower town gate of Fosses and appointed the • a possible change to the cantonal constitution members of the municipal council by a simple majority of • all laws or statutory amendments that have been prepared votes. After the fifteenth century, these public assemblies by the Grosser Rat (literally the ‘big council’) were held in each district, but the system itself actually re- • all proposals for new public expenditure of more than mained unchanged. Not only did the citizens in the town 500,000 Swiss francs, or renewable expenditure of at itself vote, but the ‘bourgeois forains’ (non-residents who least 100,000 francs a year for a period of at least five nonetheless enjoyed citizenship rights) from the surround- years (finance referendum, since 1976) ing countryside voted as well. • laws or amendments to the cantonal constitution proposed by citizens, for which one signature is sufficient The gathering of assembled citizens was called the ‘général- • if at least one citizen requests it: a vote on any decision ité’. They not only appointed the municipal council, but to spend at least 250,000 Swiss francs or at least 50,000 also had powers to deal with all the important issues. The francs a year for a period of at least five years municipal council could not make decisions itself, but was required to convene a public assembly. Lecomte summa- Thus, no law can come into force in Appenzell Innerrhoden rises the following powers, which inherently belonged to without it first being approved by the public assembly. Every the prerogatives of the ‘généralité’: citizen has the right to speak at the assembly. There are no restrictions on the number of speakers or on the speaking • issuing new regulations and statutes time. In practice, this does not cause any problems because • selling or mortgaging municipal goods and properties speakers are brief and to the point, and do not repeat each • important public works other. (Hutter, 2001; Carlen, 1996) • approving the end-of-year accounts • imposing taxes In various states in north-eastern USA, an administrative tradition also exists that is based on the so-called ‘Open Town It was the mayor’s job to convene the ‘généralité’ whenever Meetings’ (OTMs), which can be traced back directly to the a decision was needed in one of these areas. The municipal Pilgrim Fathers (Zimmerman 1999). The highest adminis- council’s job was essentially executive: it was responsible trative body in the community is not an elected municipal for looking after ongoing affairs, but new principles and council, but an open public assembly. The OTM basically major decisions always needed to be directly approved by meets once a year. All the registered voters from the com- the citizens. Lecomte correctly emphasises the qualitative munity can speak and vote at the assembly. The assembly is difference between the direct-democratic regime of Fosses convened by the ‘Board of Selectmen’. This is a committee and the current system, in which it is not the citizens but whose members were appointed at the previous sitting of the rather the municipal councillors who make the major deci- OTM, and which operates as a type of executive of the OTM. sions: “… there is an essential difference between the me- diaeval community council of Fosses and the same council Citizens can place items on the agenda for the OTM. This today. Nowadays, the council enacts local byelaws and sets requires: either a hundred signatures of registered voters, communal taxes. None of this existed in the 15th century. or (in small municipalities) the signatures of one tenth of The power to make local laws belonged essentially to the the number of registered voters. The selectmen can place

18 items on the agenda themselves, and include items that are Public assemblies provide a very lively form of direct de- brought up by the town administration and other commit- mocracy, and are certainly very workable at a local level. tees and boards. Nevertheless, the public assembly also has some disadvan- tages compared to the referendum. The absence of the se- The OTM participants are provided with several recom- cret ballot is the most important basic objection. Moreover, mendations. In some municipalities, the actual OTM is also the public assembly requires an individual contribution preceded by an informative pre-Town Meeting, at which that is made at a single specific time and it therefore more citizens can seek further information about the items on easily excludes some voters from participating. the warrant. In the warrant itself, one can find recommendations from various committees for many of the items to be voted upon. The ‘town counsel’, a lawyer specialised in 2-2: Boycott with participation quorums municipal legislation, plays an important advisory role at the OTM itself. The municipal referendums in German abundantly illustrate the destructive operation of participation quorums. Voting is by a show of hands or by standing up, but for delicate items there is a change to secret written ballots. In Baden-Württemberg, the municipal referendum was One problem with the written ballot is its time-consuming introduced as early as 1956 (it was not introduced in the character (typically three-quarters of an hour for voting and other German states until the 1990s). However, the Baden counting). Nevertheless, the opportunity for secret ballots is legislation is very restrictive. One of the most serious re- essential to avoid social pressure on controversial topics. strictions is the quorum rule: at least 30% of the electorate must vote in favour of the citizens’ proposal, otherwise the The OTM’s decisions can still be repealed via a referen- ballot is void. dum. In Massachusetts, the signatures of 300 registered voters are required, and the OTM’s decision will only be This rule gives more weight to the votes of the opponents repealed if a majority of at least 20% of the registered vot- of the citizens’ initiative than to the votes of its supporters, ers opts for this. In special circumstances, additional OTMs because the ‘non-votes’ of the abstainers are added to the can be convened. ‘no-votes’ of those opposed to the initiative.

How many citizens attend the Town Meetings? In the USA The referendum in Reutlingen (1986), about the building one has to register as a voter. The percentages indicated are of an air-raid shelter, illustrates this effect strikingly. On 20 for the four states with full OTMs: Maine: 28.17%; Vermont: March 1986, the municipal council (CDU majority) had 26.03%; New Hampshire: 22.60%; Massachusetts: 11.89%. decided to build a bunker for civil protection. A citizens’ In fact, these percentages should be increased by about 10%, initiative against this was swiftly set up, with supporters because around one-tenth of the names on the lists are those including the Greens and the SPD, and on 18 April the nec- of registered voters who have moved house in the mean- essary signatures were submitted for holding a municipal time. According to the survey by Zimmerman (1999), the referendum on the issue. attendance level seems to depend heavily on the size of the community. In communities with less than 500 inhabitants, The municipal council and the CDU mounted a deliberate usually more than one third of them attend. In the Connecti- boycott against this initiative. Any participation in discussion cut towns with more than 20,000 residents, attendance is evenings and suchlike was systematically refused. In the very around 1 percent (Zimmerman p. 165; figures for 1996). Se- last week before the vote, the CDU suddenly broke its silence riously low attendances have also been noted in communi- with an advertisement and a pamphlet that was distributed ties where the Town Meeting’s powers are limited. as a newspaper supplement and was signed by the mayor, among others. This contained a barefaced encouragement to Zimmerman (p. 173-174) polled municipal officials about boycott the vote: “... professional and cool heads must now the quality of the debate at the OTM. In Massachusetts, act sensibly – not emotional, but smart voting behaviour. 82% rated the quality as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, 16% as ‘rea- So you can just stay at home this coming Sunday; after all, sonable’ and 2% as ‘dubious’. Zimmerman also asked them you are only being asked to vote against the building of the to rate the quality of the decisions. In Massachusetts, 86% bunker. Even if you do not vote, you will be expressing your of the officials considered the decisions ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, approval of the decision made by the municipal council. You 14% ‘reasonable’ and 1% ‘dubious‘. The figures are similar have extensively placed your trust in the CDU for many years in the other states. in the elections. You can also trust us on this question.”

In the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, a novel sys- The result was that only 16,784 of the 69,932 registered tem for the direct-democratic preparation of the city budget voters took part in the vote; only 2,126 voted in favour of has been operating via public assemblies since 1989 (Ab- the bunker. The citizens’ initiative came to grief on the 30% ers, 2000). This system was introduced by the left-wing quorum, despite the fact that only 3.4% of the voters were Partido dos Trabalhadores (’Labour Party’), which won a in favour of the bunker. The quorum rule ultimately ena- significant election victory in 1988. At public assemblies, bled a small minority of the people to have its way against a neighbourhood residents decide their priorities for public large majority. Various other municipalities in Baden-Würt- service investment and then elect representatives who at a temberg held municipal referendums on similar plans for higher level – district and city – organise and follow up the shelters. Overall there was a large majority against building decisions made with the municipal services. Besides local such facilities, which people considered to be unnecessary. public assemblies, there are also thematic meetings, for ex- (An opinion poll showed that 70% of the inhabitants of ample, about ‘education’ or ‘the economy and taxes’. Baden-Württemberg opposed the bunkers.) In Nürtingen,

19 a municipality close to Reutlingen, there was also a citizens’ In Gent, on 14 December 1997, a citizens’ initiative refer- initiative against a similar bunker. The local CDU did not endum was held on the city council’s planned construction call a boycott there. The result was that 57% of the elec- of the so-called Belfort car-parking garage in the city centre. torate took part in the referendum and 90% of the voters The city council had decided in advance that it would con- rejected the building of the bunker. The citizens’ initiative sider the result as binding, but the SP and the VLD, which was therefore successful in this instance. In another mu- formed the majority coalition in Gent, called on the voters nicipality, Schramberg, the citizens’ initiative against the lo- to boycott the ballot. On this occasion the boycott failed by cal bunker plans was also successful, despite a call from the a small margin, because 41.12% of the electorate turned out CDU to boycott it. On this occasion, the text of the CDU’s and of these 95% voted against the car park. call for a boycott was prematurely leaked, so that the bunker’s opponents still had time to respond and counter the In Sint-Niklaas, on 28 June 1998, a referendum was held manoeuvre. The local newspapers also published criticisms on the construction of an underground car park. As in of the CDU’s boycott call. In the end, 49.25% of the elec- Gent, the quorum was just met: 40.28% of the electorate torate in Schramberg participated in the referendum; the turned out. Of these 92% voted against the car park. The minimum 30% turnout quorum was achieved and 88.5% vote was a touch-and-go affair because the largest party in of the voters were against the bunker. Sint-Niklaas, the Christian Democratic CVP and the local NCMV (traders’ organisation), had called on people not to A boycott can also be conducted along organisational lines. A vote. “The referendum is a bad formula. Whoever votes ‘yes’ well-known example comes from the town of Neuss, where only ensures that those who vote ‘no’ achieve the required the first municipal referendum in Nordrhein-Westfalen was 40%. The ‘yes’ voter would do better to stay at home”, ac- held on 3 September 1995. The subject was the building, cording to local CVP chairman Julien Vergeylen (Gazet van close to the town hall, of a hotel which would destroy some Antwerpen newspaper, 17 June 1998). The socialist leader, of the town centre’s green belt. The CDU majority succeeded Freddy Willockx, said: “The problem is that because of the in getting the public vote to fail because of the participation CVP’s call for a boycott we do not have an objective picture quorum of 25%. It is generally known that when referen- of what the people really want. There were probably some dums in large towns concern building plans in a single spe- 70% to 80% of the Sint-Niklaas voters effectively against cific district, relatively few people will vote, because they do the car park, but we will never know that with certainty” not feel personally affected by the issue or have the impres- (Gazet van Antwerpen, 29 June 1998). sion that a lack of knowledge of the local situation means they cannot judge properly (a referendum in Antwerp on Although the participation quorum was subsequently low- the design of the municipal square in Ekeren, for instance, ered (and the signature threshold raised), after these and will attract very few voters from other districts such as the other dubious experiences there have since been very few South or Hoboken, the majority of residents of which will initiatives. have never even been to Ekeren in person). The municipal council of Neuss used a series of measures to discourage Italy has provided the most recent perverse examples. On the voters. Postal voting was not allowed (although for the 18 April 1999, a referendum was held there on reforming council elections 15% of the votes were submitted by post). the electoral system. The reforms were supported by most Instead of the 100 polling stations that were provided for of the political parties; 49.6% of the electorate turned out the council elections, only 30 locations were opened for this and of these 91% voted for the reforms. But the voters had vote. Result: only 18.5% of the electorate took part in the ref- taken all their trouble for nothing: because the participa- erendum. Of these, it is true that almost 80% were against tion quorum of 50% was not quite reached, the reforms did the municipal council’s hotel plan, but because the quorum not go ahead. An interesting fact: in the south of Italy, the was not achieved, the citizens’ initiative was declared void. mafia had actively called for a boycott and the 40% turnout to the south of Naples was far below the national average. In Belgium, on 10 April 1995, a law was implemented that The mafia decided that their candidates were more easily provided for non-binding and non-compulsory referen- elected using the existing electoral system, and manipulat- dums at municipal level. A participation quorum was set at ed the participation quorum so that the mafia won against 40% of the electorate. If less than 40% of the electorate par- a public majority of more than 90%. ticipate in the referendum, the ballots must be destroyed uncounted. Unhappily, such boycott campaigns occur regularly in Ita- ly. The latest example is the referendum of 12 and 13 June Although the referendums were non-compulsory and non- 2005, in which four proposals for the liberalisation of the binding and, moreover, a very high signature threshold of highly restrictive law on assisted fertility for women were 10% was imposed, this led to initiatives in a number of voted on. With the support of Pope Benedict XVI, the presi- towns. In 1996, in the municipalities Genk and As in Lim- dent of the Italian bishops, Cardinal Ruini, aptly named in burg, the citizens requested a referendum on the construc- this case, actively called for a boycott. “Cardinal Ruini finds tion of a commercial complex on the site of an abandoned not voting the best way to reject the proposals. After all, mine. In the As municipality, the municipal council decided a referendum is only valid when at least half of the elec- to decline the referendum, but a vote was held in Genk on 13 torate votes. Given the fact that it was already established October 1996. Only 37.47% of the electorate turned out for that those who would vote ‘yes’ would clearly be in the ma- the vote and, in the name of Belgian democracy, the ballots jority, by voting ‘no’ Catholics would only help to achieve were not counted but were destroyed. Middle-class organisa- the quorum and thus unwillingly reinforce the ‘yes’ camp; tions and an extreme left-wing party had called on people this was the reasoning”, as reported by the news website not to vote. The first referendum held under the new law KatholiekNederland.nl (www.katholieknederland.nl/actu- was immediately a victim of a successful call for a boycott. aliteit/2005/5/nieuws_568842.html). And Ruini’s strategy

20 succeeded: the turnout was less than the participation quo- interests. Van den Enden argued that the people are best rum, so the referendum failed. able to take the political decisions themselves, and believed that public assemblies were the best format for achieving These types of examples lead to a simple conclusion: partic- this. Van den Enden notes that as a result of the common ipation quorums are fundamentally wrong. They give un- deliberation and decision-making in such assemblies, the equal weighting to the votes of supporters and opponents of people’s knowledge and political skills would increase con- an initiative, provoke calls for boycotts and negate the role siderably. He did have a limited concept of “the people” in of the mandate in direct decision-making. this context: only men who could provide for themselves were entitled to vote. Men who were unable to do so, and women, should not be allowed access to the public assem- 2-3: Frans van den Enden bly (to that extent, his theory of equality was inconsistent). At the first public assembly, he argued, the citizens should For a long time, the Dutch philosopher Spinoza was held to make a show of burning all existing regulations and laws be the one who had laid the first philosophical foundations that granted special powers or privileges to the nobility and for democracy – popular sovereignty and a radical freedom clergy. He believed that such genuine direct-democratic of speech. This makes him a typical representative of what communities (then still cities) could enter into federative the historian Jonathan Israel (2002) called the ‘radical en- links with each other. All this makes him quite possibly the lightenment’. Some of the famous people who are consid- very first theorist of direct democracy. Van den Enden also ered to be the classic representatives of the Age of Reason argued for the free bearing of arms by citizens, so that other – Newton, Locke, and Montesquieu, for example – are in rulers would be not able to cheat them out of their demo- fact representatives of the moderate Age of Reason. Locke’s cratic rights. beliefs are representative of this moderate Age of Reason. He argued for tolerance and freedom of religious belief for Van den Enden considered that democracy was inextricably all kinds of Christian convictions, but not for atheists – be- linked to a free cultural life. “The most harmful thing in a cause that would mean rejecting the basis of morality – and state is that no freedom is left for people to be able to pro- also not for Catholics, because they recognised a foreign claim everything they consider to be in the best public inter- authority, the Pope. The partisans of the moderate Age of est...” No obstacles should be placed in the way of anyone, Reason fought against the ‘radical enlightenment’ and the not even foreigners, where personal opinions or religious latter frequently had to operate underground. matters are concerned. Van den Enden also argued for the principle of mutual solidarity in relation to people’s physi- In 1990, however, Spinoza expert Wim Klever discovered cal needs. Central to his beliefs was the right to work. The that Spinoza had in fact borrowed his ideas from his tu- state imposes state membership de facto on all those born tor, Franciscus van den Enden (1602-1674). Van den Enden within its boundaries; that is only justified if the state also was from Antwerp, but later fled to Amsterdam, where provides equal levels of benefit to all its members. He also he founded a small private school at which he also taught argued for the introduction of social and medical facilities Spinoza. Klever discovered that Van den Enden was the au- and emphatically rejected the “humiliating giving of alms” thor of two revolutionary, anonymously published books: by rich people and churches. ‘Kort Verhael Van Nieuw Nederlants’ (‘A Brief Account of New Netherlands’, 1662) and ‘Vrije politijke stellingen’ (‘Free Nearly 125 years before the French Revolution, Frans Van Political Proposals’, 1665, republished by Klever in 1992). den Enden had already espoused its celebrated trinity of ideals: liberty, equality, and fraternity. But whereas the French Van den Enden was the first to argue for political equality revolutionaries produced this rallying-cry in an entirely un- “between more and less intelligent people, more and less differentiated form, Van den Enden brought much greater well-off people, the male and female gender, rulers and discernment to it: he connects liberty with the cultural life subjects, etc.” Van den Enden states explicitly that politi- (freedom of speech and religion), equality with the political equality does not mean ‘bringing into line’. He argues cal and legal systems, and solidarity with people’s material that each human being is a unique individual with specific needs (see also chapter 3). talents and characteristics, and that political equality does nothing to alter this. Equality provides for freedom. The Van den Enden later moved to Paris, where he was arrested laws must provide everyone with the space to develop, to for being involved in a plot against Louis XIV. On 27 No- speak and to think in an equal manner – for which Van vember 1674, he was executed by hanging in the Place de la den Enden uses the term “equal liberty”. He formulated the Bastille. If one compares the contents of the ‘Free Political principle of popular sovereignty in the strongest possible Proposals’ with the situation today, it is clear that most of words. He warned – correctly, as we can now see – against the goals formulated by Van den Enden nearly three and a the creation of a political class that would serve its own half centuries ago are still waiting to be realised.

21 3. Federalism, subsidiarity and social capital

Church and democracy: ‘Subsidiarity’ is a key concept in Christian-democratic ide- the subsidiarity principle ology. The basic idea is that the ‘higher’ levels delegate as many tasks as possible to the ‘lower’ levels in order to unbur- The Catholic Church has never been a lover of democracy. den themselves from less important work, which, moreover, Until far into the twentieth century, Catholic leaders defend- can be more efficiently performed by those lower levels. A ed their standpoint that the Church’s divine status gave it the further premise is that the lower levels, right down to sin- right and the obligation to be involved in shaping political gle individuals, are treated unjustly if there is no delegation. activity. Christian democratic politicians in particular were However, the initiative of delegation is a top-down one. It is the expected to adhere to the directives from Rome. For example, higher level which determines how much room for manoeu- Pope Pius X, in ‘Fin dalla prima nostra enciclica’ in 1903, vre the lower levels shall receive, and when and if their free- wrote: “In fulfilling its responsibility, Christian democracy dom of action shall be withdrawn. This is also expressed in has the heaviest duty of dependence on religious authority the term itself. ‘Subsidiarius’ means ‘reserve’ or ‘auxiliary’ and it is subject to and owes obedience to the bishops and (as of soldiers); the lower levels are effectively the auxiliary anyone who represents them. It is neither praiseworthy dili- soldiers for the higher levels. gence nor sincere devotion to undertake something that is essentially really beautiful and good, but which has not been approved by the authorised Church representative.” Subsidiarity and federalism

However, the Church also demanded obedience from society ‘Federalism’ is the opposite of ‘subsidiarity’. In a federalist so- as a whole. In the encyclical letter ‘Immortale Dei’ (1885), ciety, delegation comes from individual citizens themselves. Pope Leo XIII stated that it was wrong to place the various Federalists also maintain that injustice is created if tasks are forms of divine worship on the same footing as the true re- not delegated, for people are social animals and depend on ligion. The Church has always remained steadfast on this each other. Nevertheless, subsidiarity differs fundamentally in standpoint. As self-appointed guardian of absolute truth, spirit from the principle of federalism. Federalism proceeds it could hardly do anything else. Experience has shown in from the individual, because not only conscience and moral Poland, Ireland and Italy that the Church also tries to im- judgement, but also the experience of life’s joys and sorrows, pose its views on society as a whole through governments, are individual traits. Groups do not suffer as such and, even if it feels it is in a position to do so. Not until 1944, with the more significantly, have no conscience. Subsidiarity, on the encyclical letter “Già per la Sesta Volta” (Pius XII), did the other hand, issues from a power which stands above the indi- Church adopt in principle a position in favour of democracy vidual person and which ‘benevolently’ creates space for the (Woldring, 1996). The Church’s aversion to democratic ide- activities of the lower levels and the individuals. als explains why Catholic politicians so strongly resisted the introduction of universal single voting rights (against which, The federalist idea can be easily linked to the democratic incidentally, they used more or less the same arguments that ideal. But the connection is even closer than this: direct de- are now levelled against direct democracy). mocracy and federalism are the two inseparable sides of the same fully democratic coin. The concept of subsidiarity, on We should, therefore, treat with some caution the claim that the other hand, is irreconcilable with full democracy, because the Catholic Church also formulated a theory of government the former is based on a given a priori authority. In the theory based around the concept of subsidiarity. The encyclical let- of subsidiarity, the Church’s hierarchically structured model ter ‘Quadragesimo anno’ (1931) formulated this as follows: is exported to the secular state. In the federalist concept, it “…it is true that on account of changed conditions many is individuals who form the highest level, for it is ultimately things which were done by small associations in former individuals who determine what is delegated to which level. times cannot be done now save by large associations. Still, For the proponents of subsidiarity, this right of decision lies that most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or with the state (which from a Church perspective is still sub- changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy. ordinated to ‘divine’ power) and the individuals find them- Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they selves on the lowest level. can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice, and at the same The Catholic Church did not, perhaps, invent the term time a grave evil and disturbance of proper order, to assign ‘subsidiarity’, but it has taken it over and propagated it to a greater and higher association what lesser and subor- with great success. The ideology of subsidiarity, for exam- dinate organizations can do. (…) The supreme authority of ple, has taken root strongly in EU circles. In these circles the State ought, therefore, to let subordinate groups handle there is often very ambiguous talk about the direction matters and concerns of lesser importance, which would (from individual to society or vice versa) in which dele- otherwise dissipate its efforts greatly. Thereby the State will gation occurs, so that a disastrous confusion has arisen more freely, powerfully, and effectively do all those things between the terms ‘federalism’ and ‘subsidiarity’. Many that belong to it alone because it alone can do them: direct- people nowadays use the term ‘subsidiarity’ when they ing, watching, urging, restraining, as occasion requires and actually hold federalist ideals. Even staunch federalists necessity demands. Therefore, those in power should be confuse the terms, often with significant consequences. sure that the more perfectly a graduated order is kept among They frequently forget that a federalist structure logically the various associations, in observance of the principle of begins with the individual. They only allow the federal- “subsidiary function,” the stronger social authority and ef- ist argument to start at a much higher level, such as the fectiveness will be, and the happier and more prosperous community or even the entire nation. For the lower levels the condition of the State.” and the individual, they unwittingly adopt the old subsidi-

22 arity idea of the Pope and the Catholic Church. This strips ‘Disentangled’ federalism the federalist argument of much of its appeal and inner consistency, and the logical link between federalism and Democracy means that people can shape their own commu- direct democracy is lost. nities in discussion with each other. People must have the opportunity to choose for themselves the best ways of working together. Only a consistent federalism provides them Federalism and direct democracy with that space. Thus direct democracy and federalism belong inseparably together. They are two aspects of the same For the consistent federalist, the individual represents the ideal: strong or full democracy (Barber, 1984). highest level. We submit two arguments for this view. The importance of the free formation of communities is il- Firstly, the aim of politics is to minimise distress and disor- lustrated by the Swiss example. Switzerland is not only the der, insofar as these are attributable to social circumstances. country with the most extensive direct democracy in the Since distress is always experienced by individuals and never world. It is also a country with a fairly strongly developed fed- by groups or whole populations as such, it is logical that the eralism. Lower administrative levels in Switzerland, such as individual appears as the highest political authority. the cantons and municipalities, often have major powers (in respect of taxation, for instance; see inset 4-3 and chapter 5). Secondly, political decisions are in essence always moral choices or value judgements. Only individuals have a con- In 1847, Switzerland experienced a kind of war of secession science and the capacity for moral judgement. Groups or in which the union of separatist Catholic cantons that wanted populations do not have a conscience as such. It is thus logi- to dissociate themselves from the federated state were defeat- cal from this perspective, too, that the individual appears as ed. Nowadays, the combination of direct democracy with fed- the highest authority. eralist structures enables these types of conflict to be resolved peacefully. For example, the Jura region decided to form its Nevertheless, federalists are not egocentrics. They know that own canton in 1978. This took place via a referendum at na- individuals can only be real human beings, real individuals, tional level, which approved the new federal structure with within the fabric of society. People connect themselves to an extra canton. In 1993, several municipalities from the other people precisely because they are social beings. Laufental area decided to transfer from the Berne canton to the Basel-Land canton. This boundary adjustment was also Individuals form small justicial communities, within which peacefully implemented by means of a national referendum. various issues can be democratically regulated. Certain issues cannot be tackled at the level of one village, one town, Frey and Eichenberger (1996 and 1999) plead for a radical one valley or one region. In such cases, the smaller commu- federalism in which lower political units can federate as they nities can federate themselves: they join together to form wish. Citizens must have the right to decide by referendum a new, larger, community which is authorised to deal with which federative links will be implemented. A municipality, these issues. This federation process may be repeated until for example, could decide by referendum to transfer from all issues are dealt with at the appropriate level. one province to another one that the people believe is better managed. Federalism is the name we give to the structure which emerges when, in order to deal with certain issues, smaller Federative unions are not eternal. Locked unions, or unions communities mutually agree to form a larger community that can only be rescinded if the other partners agree, are and delegate certain powers to it. Because the delegation unacceptable. A federative union can be compared to a mar- takes place from smaller to larger, and because it is a free riage: it can only be entered into and be maintained as long choice of the smaller level to delegate to the larger level, as both partners agree to it. If only one partner wants a di- this delegation from the smaller level must in principle also vorce and the other does not, the marriage must be annulled. be rescindable at any time. For the smaller level is at the If the permission of both were to be essential for annulment, same time the highest level. The individual is the smallest one partner could then hold the other hostage in the mar- and also the highest level. ‘Higher’ and ‘lower’ must not riage against their will. be interpreted in this context in the sense of an administrative hierarchy. When communities transfer a power to In an extension of this, moreover, each generation must have a district or region, then the latter are ‘higher’ in technical the opportunity to review and revise both the large and small administrative terms than the communities. Nevertheless, unions and relationships in which they live. In recent decades it is the communities – or the even higher level of the citi- we have learnt to accept that people today have ecological ob- zens – which have transferred that power and which can, in ligations towards future generations. In addition, the aware- principle, also rescind it. ness that one generation must not saddle its successors with a mountain of public debt is slowly getting through. We still If we think the federalist idea through to its logical conclu- have to broaden this sense of accountability. Anyone who binds sion, we arrive at the autonomous individual as the smallest future generations into fixed conditions is mortgaging the fu- and at the same time most basic community. The individu- ture. They are solving current problems at the expense of the al person is thus the ultimate delegating body. This is also freedom of future generations. Federative unions are best de- logical because a good measure always distinguishes itself scribed as a form of renewable contract of a specified duration. from a poorer one by a more efficient avoidance of distress or disorder; and, as we have seen, distress or disorder are However, there is another aspect to ‘disentangled’ federalism. only ever experienced by individuals – never by commu- It is important to realise that not all areas of life in society can nities. The fact that the individual is the highest authority be managed democratically. If an attempt is made to do so, it should logically be reflected in direct-democratic decision- leads to an infringement of justice, to unproductiveness, and making at all levels. eventually to the demise of democracy.

23 Democracy is pre-eminently suited to deciding about rights, agreements between particular partners without violating es- duties and juridical matters. On either side of the institution- sential citizens’ rights at the same time. In the same way that al democratic state there are two areas of society that must the free voting right is essential in the democratic area, and be independent of the state. On the one hand, there is the free speech is a key freedom in the field of cultural and spir- cultural life in its broader sense: the forming of opinion, the itual life, the right to free agreement should be considered as media, education, sciences and arts, and religion. In these a basic freedom in the field of economic life. The free vote, fields, every individual must be able to act independently, free speech and free agreement are the three key freedoms without state intervention. Insofar as people work together around which a free democratic society is built. in these areas, they freely determine the what, how and when themselves. This idea gained much ground in the 19th cen- We must remove two misunderstandings at this point. The tury with the introduction of the so-called classic fundamen- first concerns the question of how democracy should be con- tal rights: freedom of speech, freedom of education, freedom fined to the area where it is really effective. This can only be a of assembly and demonstration, etc. The reasons for this are voluntary restriction imposed by the collective will of the citi- twofold. On the one hand, even if 99% of the citizens be- zens themselves, and which they can also change at any time. lieve one thing, it is a fundamental right to be allowed to The assembled citizens – the legal community – can therefore express a different opinion. The proper protection of minori- voluntarily decide not to interfere with the cultural life, nor ties is largely safeguarded by means of this principle of the with economic initiatives, by means of (direct) democracy, be- free cultural life. After all, minorities are frequently defined cause they realise the benefits of non-interference. They can by cultural characteristics: different language, different reli- also incorporate this as a leading principle in the constitu- gion, different customs, different concepts, etc. On the other tion. But they must also always be able to change the insights, hand, freedom in this area guarantees efficiency and produc- because an insight developed in the future might perhaps tivity. In the cultural sphere, achievements are accomplished lead to still better principles of government. The democratic – new insights acquired, inventions realised, people educated legal community must remain sovereign. Therefore, we do – without which the broader society cannot function. And it not argue that one or other body imposes arbitrary limits to is not practically possible to democratically make an original the (direct-)democratic decision-making from above, but that invention or to democratically determine whether a math- the citizens must always be able to do this themselves. Nor do ematical line of reasoning is correct. In this context, only the we advocate that citizens take ‘everlasting’ decisions to which specific talents and insights of the individual count, and not they subjugate future generations, because those generations which side has the majority. Individual must therefore have are also sovereign and must be able to organise their society the space and freedom to develop and express their insights on the basis of their own insights. and creativity. Democracy undermines its own foundations when it imposes rules on cultural life through legislation, The second misunderstanding concerns the nature of the because, for example, legislation also comes about after three areas of culture, politics and the economy. Not every- new insights, discussions and exchanges that take place in thing that companies and schools do is, respectively, eco- the cultural-spiritual life. The state should be shaped by the nomic or cultural-spiritual by its nature. The working of a products of the free spiritual life; if it attempted to regulate company or shool also involves a considerable element which this, it would dry up its own source of innovation and crea- relates to laws and human rights and the issues concerned tivity. It is important to realise that in principle it makes no must be regulated through ‘democratic’ channels (i.e. chan- difference whether it is a majority- or minority-based govern- nels in which all the people concerned have an equal vote). ment that wants to impose its opinions via the state. In the This practically always concerns the basic conditions for the first case, it is a large group which infringes the freedom of economic activity: in themselves, economic initiatives belong the individual, in the second case, a small group, but in ei- in the area of free creativity, but they must not result in a resi- ther case it goes against the human rights of the individual dential area becoming poisoned or polluted, etc. Decision- and undermines productivity. making on legal matters within private organisations does not always need to proceed via the (local) state, moreover, but On the other hand, the area of the production of goods and can also take place via ‘democratic’ bodies in these compa- services is also unsuitable for democratic decision-making. nies, schools and suchlike, in which all the people concerned After the fiascos of Communism in the twentieth century, have an equal vote. In fact, this is often far preferable. insight into this has also gained a lot of ground. Individuals and groups should have the freedom to enter into the neces- Modern states have shortcomings in many respects: not sary agreements about production and consumption. These doing things they actually should be doing. But in other re- agreements are based on the confidence that people have in spects, they take on too many tasks, acquiring too much pow- the capabilities, the trustworthiness, etc. of the other party to er. On the one hand, democracy must be radically deepened the agreement. It does not matter what other people or soci- and extended ‘horizontally’ by introducing direct-democratic ety as a whole believe when two or more people want to enter decision-making. On the other, democracy must be restricted into an agreement with each other to produce or consume ‘vertically’, in the sense that it withdraws from areas where something. The economy organises itself naturally within a it does not belong. bedrock or network of freely concluded agreements and contracts. Without this right to free agreement, similarly in the Many arguments against direct democracy are disarmed by absence of the rights of free speech and association, democ- this perspective. When critics of direct democracy state that racy itself can no longer exist. The democratic legislature may, citizens are not competent to decide about issues on which however, impose restrictions that prevent the activity ensuing the politicians currently make the decisions, they are gener- from the agreement from producing unfavourable effects for ally wrong – see chapter 6 for this – but in some cases they third parties. Thus, for example, it is completely logical for are also right. The solution then, however, does not lie in the the legislature to prohibit activities that damage the environ- assumed right of the parliament to ignore the people, but in ment. But a legislature, acting out of whatever kind of politi- removing that topic from the scope of democracy. Because, cal objective, cannot prohibit, sanction, impose or encourage if the citizens are not competent to decide something, then

24 neither are the politicians. Politicians are nothing more than Social capital, democracy and federalism the agents of the citizens and, just like most citizens, are typically generalists who – ideally – think and act on the basis In the first half of the 19th century, French author Alexis de of the same concerns and wishes as the citizens. Viewed in Tocqueville made a journey through the United States of this way, direct democracy can act as an extra check to see America. The report of his journey appeared in two parts: in whether a certain issue does indeed belong within institu- 1835 and 1840. America’s top leaders, even now, still quote tional democracy. de Tocqueville when they want to describe the essence of the ‘American dream’. The separation of different areas of life provides another benefit. Currently, economic and educational borders are usually De Tocqueville noted two aspects of American society that at the same as state borders, because to a large extent states first sight appear to be contradictory. First of all, he was sur- determine economic and educational policy through legisla- prised by the outspoken autonomy of the American citizens: tion and regulations. But if these areas ‘privatise’ themselves, “They owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from they can enter into cooperation agreements that cross politi- any man; they acquire the habit of always considering them- cal borders. Schools in the Dutch-speaking Belgian region of selves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that Flanders could cooperate much more closely with schools in their whole destiny is in their own hands”. But, at the same the south of the Netherlands. The Dutch city of Maastricht time, he noticed that the social life in the young United States and the German city of Aachen, which lie very near each oth- was unusually intense: “In towns it is impossible to prevent er across the border, belong objectively to the same economic men from assembling, getting excited together and forming region and could standardise all sorts of strictly economic sudden passionate resolves. Towns are like great meeting- regulations mutually, while they nevertheless continue to be- houses with all the inhabitants as members. In them, the long to different political states. people wield immense influence over their magistrates and often carry their desires into execution without intermediar- Incidentally, in this respect Switzerland also plays a special, ies (...) Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types although sometimes dubious role. On the one hand, a type of of disposition are forever forming associations. There are not separation between different functional areas exists in some only commercial and industrial associations in which all take places in Switzerland. In the canton of Zurich (1.2 million part, but others of a thousand different types--religious, mor- inhabitants), for example, in addition to the local authorities al, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely proper, there are also educational communities and church large and very minute.” communities which organise themselves, levy their own taxes, and have different geographical demarcations than the In the lines quoted above, Alexis de Tocqueville describes municipalities. Furthermore, there are numerous so-called nothing less than the combination of living, direct democ- ‘Zivilgemeinden’ (‘civil communities’) which manage public racy with spontaneous federalism. This situation, in which utilities (water, electricity, radio and television services, etc.), independent people freely come together and take joint deci- which have direct-democratic forms of management and sions, provides a social surplus for which the term ‘social earn their income from user charges. On the other hand, de- capital’ was subsequently coined. cisions are often made democratically, while (as we argued above) this is not the appropriate manner at all. Everyone The creation of ‘social capital’ – the ‘mother of all other arts’ in Switzerland, for example, pays church tax, generally via – has received an unusual amount of attention in recent the state, unless they declare that they are not members of years. Putnam’s book ‘Making democracy work’ (1993) was a church. But a separation between political and spiritual- a milestone. This publication summarised the results of 20 cultural life implies, of course, that the state should not levy years of sociological work in Italy. The original intention of taxes for any private body, whether it be for the billiards club Putnam’s team was to study the results of the regionalisation or for the church. of Italy. Starting in the 1970’s, a decentralisation process had been set in motion in Italy and significant powers had been It is this capability of being disentangled that fundamentally transferred to the regions. Over the years, the researchers distinguishes federalism from subsidiarity. Subsidiarity is gathered an impressive amount of information: polls were based on an already established supreme authority that del- taken, hundreds of interviews were conducted, and moun- egates downwards. The result is inevitably a monolithic cen- tains of statistics were processed. tralised entity. When the citizens are free to federate, it is possible for different overlapping unions and relationships Putnam discovered a remarkable and consistent difference to be created in the various areas of life. The latter thus be- between the regions in Northern and Southern Italy. The come ‘disentangled’. northern regions were economically wealthier and much more efficiently administered. Putnam’s group also conduct- However, the fundamental principle of federalism means ed an experiment. Three requests for information were pre- that this separation into federal structures cannot be im- sented to the administrations of the various regions. The ad- posed from above. It must be done by people themselves; ministrations of Emilia-Romagna and Valle d’Aosta were the and direct democracy is the essential tool for this. This kind quickest to reply: the researchers received complete answers of democracy will in any case always function the better, the within two weeks. Despite repeated requests, the adminis- more those areas of life in which democracy is naturally at trations of Calabria and Sardinia never provided a complete home are clearly separated from those domains in which answer to the same three questions. democratic decision-making is neither necessary nor desirable. A ‘separating’ federalism and direct democracy can thus Putnam tested the hypothesis that a difference in ‘civicness’ mutually reinforce each other. An integrated democracy is a was the basis of the distinction between north and south. society in which this process of a reciprocal enhancement of ‘Civicness’ can be defined in de Tocqueville’s words as ‘the democracy and federalist forms of association has been suc- evaluation of interests in the broad social context’. One’s own cessfully set in motion. interests are not ignored or suppressed; they are considered

25 as coinciding with the communal interest in the long term. an extreme example of social atomisation, deep mutual mis- The opposite of ‘civicness’ is ‘amoral familialism’. Someone trust among individuals and the drastic loss of any form of with this latter attitude is only concerned with the short-term social capital. interests of the narrow family circle. A society in which this short-term familial focus predominates is atomised. The In a later study (1995), Helliwell and Putnam analysed how communal interest is left to those in power, which means that the causal chain of civicness (social capital) > efficient ad- mainly opportunistic relationships are formed (clientelism). ministration > social satisfaction operates. In the 1980s, the Italian regions were granted considerable powers in the In order to measure ‘civicness’, Putnam used an index based economic field. As a result, economic policies were now no on the following indicators: longer decided by a central authority, but mainly by the regional authorities. In the 1960s and ‘70s, the gap in pros- • the percentage of votes which are not cast for the leading perity between the North and South had been reduced due, candidate in an election: in a society in which amoral fa- on the one hand, to the fact that the central authority had milialism predominates, there is generally a higher propor- made large transfers of money from North to South and on tion of such votes (electoral clientelism); the other, that the northern regions were unable to operate • voter turnout in referendums: because direct clientelism more efficiently (due to their economic policy being deter- cannot play a role in referendums, the level of participation mined centrally). It seems that as soon as the regions were in direct-democratic decision-making is a good indicator of able to set their own policies, the surplus of social capital ‘civicness’; in the North was immediately translated into an increase • the number of newspaper readers: reading newspapers in- in prosperity. Public and private capital was spent more ef- dicates interest in society as a whole; ficiently in the northern regions, so that the prosperity gap • the level of participation in social life (such as clubs etc): between North and South increased again from around 1983 taking part in social life broadens horizons beyond the core onwards, despite the continuing transfers of public money family. from North to South.

Putnam (1993, p. 97-98) characterised the difference be- Helliwell and Putnam’s causal chain can be even further ex- tween the two sorts of society he discovered in Italy as fol- tended. Comparative research in a large number of countries lows: “When two citizens meet on the street in a civic region, shows that it is not civic culture that determines the sub- both of them are likely to have seen a newspaper at home that stance and quality of democracy, but that the causal connec- day; when two people in a less civic region meet, probably nei- tion proceeds in the reverse direction: “Interpersonal trust ther of them has. More than half of the citizens in the civic appears clearly to be an effect rather than a cause of democ- regions have never cast a preference ballot in their lives; more racy.” (Muller and Seligson, 1994). Democracy creates trust than half of the voters in the less civic regions say they always between people, and trust between citizens and the institu- have. Membership in sports clubs, cultural and recreational tions of the state. groups, community and social action organizations, educational and youth groups, and so on is roughly twice as common in In another study, Putnam (1996a, b) surveyed the decrease the most civic regions as in the least civic regions.” in ‘social capital’ in the United States. Church attendance, work for political parties, membership of all types of clubs There appears to be a strong direct relationship between civ- and associations had declined drastically during the preced- icness, economic performance and the efficiency of public ing decades in the US. There was also a marked simultane- administration. In areas with more civicness, the economy ous decline in ‘social trust’ (trust in other people and in the prospers and the administration is efficient. Putnam exam- authorities). After eliminating several other possible explained and eliminated various alternative explanations and nations, Putnam believed he had found the main culprit in came to the conclusion that ‘civicness’ played a causal role. television. In the 1950s, television made an explosive entry into American society: whereas only 10% of families owned a Putnam also argued that the difference between the civic cul- TV set in 1950, by 1960 it was already 90%. It is around this ture in North and South Italy is very old and may be traced time that the collapse of American ‘social capital’ began. back as far as the 11th century. At this time a feudal monarchy with Norman roots established itself in southern Italy. An average American watches around 4 hours of TV each Whereas by the 15th century there were already republican day. Research shows that TV viewers demonstrate a strong city-states in the North with considerable opportunity for tendency to take less part in social life in all its aspects and personal initiative and political participation by a relatively develop a more negative view of their fellow men (heavy TV large number of citizens, in the South feudalism continued viewers, for instance, overestimate the impact of crime on to exist with its hierarchical structures, into which organised society). Television is, in this respect, an unusual medium; crime could later effortlessly insinuate itself. newspaper readers, in contrast, have a higher than average tendency to participate in community life. One cannot, of course, maintain that the level of ‘civicness’ remains constant throughout history. Civicness can also be Over the same period, mutual distrust among people also in- eroded, for example, under the influence of economic factors. creased. In 1960, 58% of Americans still believed you could A shocking example is described in the book “The Mountain trust most people. In 1993, that figure had dropped to 37%. People” by the anthropologist Turnbull (1972, 1994) about Miller and Ratner (1998) pointed out that there was a strong the Ik, a small tribe that lived in north-eastern Uganda. The ideological basis for this culture of mutual mistrust: “Evolu- Ik were driven out of their original homeland after it was tionary biology, neoclassical economics, behaviourism, and designated as a wildlife reserve. This devastated their tra- psychoanalytic theory all assume that people actively and ditional sources of existence and their social organisation. single-mindedly pursue their self-interest (…). Mounting Collective hunting was no longer possible. All that was left empirical evidence, on the other hand, tells a different story. was secret poaching by separate individuals. The Ik illustrate Much of the most interesting social science research of the

26 last 20 years points to the inadequacy of self-interest models ing in solidarity with others), who precisely because of their of behaviour. For example, we know that people often care independence can produce social capital and who also like more about the fairness of the procedures they are subjected taking part in referendums; and the pseudo-individualism to than about the material outcomes these procedures yield, of the ‘subject’ citizen concerned only with the short-term that they often care more about their group’s collective out- interest of their own nuclear family and content to leave the comes than about their personal outcomes, and that their at- rest of society to be governed by those who wield power. This titudes toward public policies are often shaped more by their distinction is fundamental, of course, because the agencies values and ideologies than by the impact these policies have of power will praise this submissive clientelism as express- on their material well-being.” ing ‘social integration’, while they will present themselves wherever possible as the ‘centre’ that mediates between the Thus, people are much less fixated on their own interests powerless client and those who hold the reins of power. than the theories claim. But at the same time, these theories have become a real force in society. The result appears This type of ‘centre’ has nothing to do with the associational to be that most people consider themselves to be much more life created by people themselves that was described by de altruistic than their fellow men. One of the experiments con- Tocqueville. Authentic social capital is created when people ducted by Miller and Ratner concerned the people’s willing- who have connections with each other see themselves as the ness to give blood, both with and without financial reward co-creators and co-definers of their associations, at whatever [see 3-2]. Of the people asked, 63% said they were prepared to level, from the smallest bridge club to the widest league of donate blood for free. When a prospective financial induce- nations. Then what emerges is an authentic, ‘disentangled’ ment of 15 dollars was proposed, the figure increased to 73%. structure – made up of federations of independent individu- The effect of offering a financial reward was therefore not als – into which people can put their energies and commit- especially significant, the difference being fairly modest. The ment and in so doing enhance their own and others’ strengths people surveyed, however, were also asked to give their own and talents. The socio-political gestalt of the ‘centre’ referred estimate of the percentages – with and without a reward. to above is exactly the opposite: here all the diverse areas of They thought that 62% of people would give blood if paid, life are wrapped into a kind of intertwined vertical structure, and only 33% if not. Thus they clearly overestimated the role within which only the elites have access to the sources of of money as a motive for their fellow humans. power, while ‘ordinary’ members are essentially reduced to the status of clients. This kind of power-friendly centre lacks Another survey looked at the introduction of anti-smoking any federalist structure; in reality it obeys the principle of measures. Non-smokers tend to hold stricter views than subsidiarity. smokers. The survey showed 100% of non-smokers and 85% of smokers supporting smoking restrictions on aircraft. But A centre also emerges in a federative, fully democratic soci- the same people thought that 93% of non-smokers and only ety. But this centre is qualitatively entirely different. It does 35% of smokers would support such a measure. In other not force people into a condition of permanent political im- words: people seriously overestimated the role that personal maturity, in which they are allowed to vote at most every few interest would play in determining the smokers’ views. Mill- years or so to give a virtually meaningless mandate to their er and Ratner found that at least 80% of smokers were in ‘representatives’. The federative centre that must gradually favour of smoking restrictions in places with a high risk of come into being in the 21st century will be the expression ‘passive smoking’ (restaurants, places of work, buses, trains of people’s desire for the life of societies to be shaped by the and aircraft). The general public, however, thought that only individuals who compose them. In such a federative centre, 25% to 35% of smokers would support such measures. schools do not depend on a coordinating and controlling body that sits like a spider in the middle of the ‘education This general lack of trust between people, which culminates web’. The school of the future will be shaped by the particular in a distrust of the political institutions, is directly related to community of children, teachers and parents who inhabit it the problem of disintegrating social capital. Trust between at any one time. Such schools will be funded by an education people is social capital. The atomisation of society prevents voucher that each school-going child receives as of right, and people from perceiving each other’s moral motives. People which is handed over by the parents to the school of their then consider each other more and more as automatons fix- choice. In a federative society, the only thing that will be ated on self-interest, which they are not. The more the ideol- predetermined are the educational rights of the child; there ogy of man as homo economicus (man as an intrinsic egoist) will be no government-formulated ‘education policy’. Such spreads, the more people explain even their own behaviour in schools will not be entwined in a vertical column with trade terms of self-interest. People who work socially out of genuine unions, national or private health insurance schemes, banks empathy still tend to offer egoistic rationales for what they are and agricultural associations. They will be the continual crea- doing (“It gives me something to do.” – “I found the other vol- tion of the efforts of teachers and parents to do the best for unteers rather nice.” – “It gets me out of the house now and their children in the specific situation; and they will be linked then”. See Wuthnow, 1991). The claim that people ‘vote for with other schools, not in a centralised and hierarchical rela- their wallet’ is not corroborated when their actual voting pat- tionship, but in a horizontal network characterised by close terns are analysed; but it is when people’s own explanations consultation, feedback and cooperation. for their voting are studied (Feldman, 1984; Stein, 1990). Schools will be only one of the areas in which strong democ- De Tocqueville was impressed both by the strong trend to- racy will take shape. The direct-democratic framework must wards individual autonomy and by the intense social life of first be created within which the federative structuring of lo- the Americans in the early 19th century. Putnam was struck cal life becomes possible. Such a democratic framework must by the polarity between ‘civicness’ and ‘amoral familialism’. not remain confined to the local level, however, but must be This shows that there are two types of ‘individualism’. We expanded up to the level of European institutions, because must make a sharp distinction between the individualism of decisions with major consequences for the local level are of- autonomous citizens (which does not prevent them from be- ten made at much higher levels.

27 Between the hammer and the anvil: McWorld opposes the particularism of Jihad, but it also op- how social capital is destroyed poses the nation state. The globalisation that McWorld aims for does not have civil society as its driving force, but profit. Why does social capital decline? In his recent and much dis- It is an economic force, though not a traditional one. Barber cussed book Jihad versus McWorld, Benjamin Barber describes sketches out the way in which goods are becoming increas- the battle between two opposing forces, both of which threaten ingly international. What distinguishes an ‘American’ from the constitutional state and democracy in their own way. Bar- a ‘Japanese’ car once you know that Toyota’s Camry was con- ber calls these forces Jihad and McWorld. They form the anvil ceived by an American designer and is built in the Toyota and the hammer between which social capital is pulverised. factory in Georgetown (Kentucky) using parts that are mainly American? In fact, it is not possible to define McWorld Jihad simply in terms of capital (in the sense of money), but only in terms of the optimised relationship between capital, la- The one force is that of local particularism, to the extent that bour and raw materials. “McWorld is a kind of virtual reality, it strives to achieve its own monolithic state power. Ethnic created by invisible but omnipotent high-tech information or religious groups or tribes fight for hegemony within their networks and fluid trans-national economic markets, so the own state. Barber thus expands the original meaning of the virtual corporation is not just a provocative turn of phrase.” term ‘Jihad’ (the ‘holy war’ of Muslims) to describe a phe- (Barber, 1995, p. 26) nomenon that appears in all parts of the world. In the West, Jihad can signify the struggle for regional identity (Ireland, One of Barber’s basic propositions is that the centre of grav- the Basque country, Corsica). It is not the struggle for a cul- ity of McWorld’s activity progressively moves to less material tural or philosophical or religious identity as such that is sectors: from goods to services, from hardware to software, characteristic of Jihad. To the degree to which such a strug- with the ultimate being the world of the electronic image. Mc- gle is against a monolithic, hegemonistic centralised state, World is becoming increasingly more virtual and the United it is a positive phenomenon. Jihad actually wants to intro- States is invariably at the forefront of this evolution. When the duce such a monolithic centralised state. Jihad aims for a United States was overtaken by Japan and Europe in respect cultural-philosophical hegemony over the state and assaults of the production of traditional goods, it acquired tremendous existing bourgeois nation states which do not exhibit the dominance in new sectors, such as the manufacture of tran- desired hegemony. Jihad aims to break up such states into sistors. When other countries acquired production capability culturally-philosophically homogeneous blocks organised in hardware, American industry turned to software. At the on the principle of subsidiarity. Jihad lives from the struggle end of the line is the world of advertising and the production against Jihad. of images – the fully virtual cosmos that doesn’t actually need to be taken over by the USA, because it is already intrinsically The Quebec issue clearly illustrates the boundlessness of American (and based on the English language). The increas- the fragmentation that is caused by Jihad: “The logic of Ji- ing strength of trade in virtual products is illustrated by the had does not necessarily stop with the first and primary growth of spending on advertising, which rose three times as layer of fragments. If Quebec leaves Canada, non-Quebecois fast as general global production in the period from 1950 to francophones may lose their equal place in New Brunswick. 1990. American dominance in infotainment is revealed by And if Quebec leaves Canada, why should not the Cree leave the US balance of trade: in 1992, this showed an overall defi- Quebec? And why then should not anglophone villages leave cit of 40 billion dollars, with a trade surplus of 56 billion dol- Quebec or opt out of a self-determining Cree nation if it is lars in the service sector offset by a manufacturing deficit of such they find themselves inhabiting? And if a few franco- 96 billion. America owns 80% of the European film market; phones reside in the predominantly English villages in the by contrast, Europe owns only 2% of the American market. predominantly Cree region in the predominantly French Audio-visual products (3.7 billion dollars in exports to Europe Quebec, what about their status?” (Barber, 1995, p. 179) alone) were in second place on the list of US exports in 1992, close to exports connected with air and space travel. In Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Ossetia and Rwanda, Jihad reaches its logical conclusion. Because the fragmentation cannot be con- Another symptom of the increasing weight of the trade in tinued indefinitely, there is a resort to the weapons of ‘ethnic virtual products which is so characteristic of McWorld is the cleansing’ and genocide. Jihad does not recognise people as fact that brand names are increasingly becoming more im- free individuals, but only as members of an ethnic or reli- portant commercially than the actual products. Barber de- gious group. Jihad reduces people to members of a tribe: Ji- scribes the rise of Coca-Cola in some detail. What is being had is tribalism. For Jihad, a ‘people’, a nation, a community, sold here is not a drink, in the sense of a physical product, a body of persons held together by a common origin, speech, but rather an image – a virtual, world-encompassing Coca- culture, political union, or by a common leadership’ – Cham- Cola theme park to which new elements are always being bers Dictionary] is not a living form which free individuals added. Coca-Cola associated itself not only with the Olympic give to their community. For Jihad, the ‘people’ is a mythical Games and with the fall of the Berlin wall, but also with the entity to which individuals must subject themselves. Jihad is renowned Rutgers University (where Barber is employed). of course not interested in democracy, because Jihad places Coca-Cola not only has a sales monopoly on the campus, the tribe, the people or the religion above the individual. Ji- where its competitor, Pepsi, is banned; Coca-Cola also has the had does not aim for liberation, but for a mummification of right to associate itself with Rutgers in its advertisements. In ‘the people’. Jihad has no interest in human rights. new markets, Coca-Cola conducts aggressive campaigns to suppress the local culture. Barber quotes the 1992 annual McWorld report of the Coca-Cola Company, in which it was declared that Indonesia was ‘culturally ripe’ for the large-scale intro- The other force is that of the global market. It works by duction of Coca-Cola products; being ‘culturally ripe’ meant, standardising. It reduces the individual to a consumer. Bar- among other things, that the traditional consumption of tea ber calls this force McWorld. had been sufficiently rolled back.

28 McWorld is thus not a merely economic force that emerges banality. The reason is simple: good taste is individual, bad alongside the existing culture. McWorld takes over the ex- taste is collective. Bad taste is characterised by the lack of in- isting culture and shapes it in its own economic interests. dividualism, of individual creativity. Good taste is predicated “Even where multinational companies claim to be interested on the existence of elements of creativity that relate to the exclusively in production and consumption figures, increas- uniqueness of the individual who evinces good taste. Good ingly they can maximize those figures only by intervening ac- taste is therefore hardly ever a mass product and is almost tively in the very social, cultural, and political domains about always commercially uninteresting. which they affect agnosticism. Their political ambitions may not be politically motivated and their cultural ambitions may It is impossible to combat bad taste: as long as there is a de- not be the product of cultural animus, but this only makes mand for it, the economy will act to meet it. If, however, the such ambitions the more irresponsible and culturally sub- economy begins to dominate the whole of society, there will versive.” (Barber, 1995, p. 71) be no space left for the realm of good taste which expresses individuality. “The problem with Disney and McDonald’s is Jihad and McWorld versus democracy not aesthetics, and critics of mass taste such as Horkheimer and Adorno (and me) are concerned not to interfere with the Despite their contradictory, opposing characters, Jihad and expression of private taste, but to prevent monopoly control McWorld also have one important element in common. Nei- over information, and to interdict that quiet, comfortable ther possesses “…[a] conscious and collective human control coercion through which television, advertising, and enter- under the guidance of law we call democracy. (...) Jihad and tainment can constrict real liberty of choice.” (Barber, 1995, McWorld have this in common: they both make war on the p. 297). Democracy – and even science, for example – then sovereign nation-state and thus undermine the nation-state’s come under pressure, because these areas do not express democratic institutions. Each eschews civil society and belit- what all of us have in common as members of the same bio- tles democratic citizenship; neither seeks alternative demo- logical species, but what we produce as individuals as ideas, cratic institutions. Their common thread is indifference to works of art etc. civil liberty.” (Barber, 1995, p. 5-6). Moreover: “Antithetical in every detail, Jihad and McWorld nonetheless conspire to Democracy always begins with the generation of individual undermine our hard-won (if only half-won) civil liberties and ideas and concepts, which then confront each other on the the possibility of a global democratic future”. (ibid., p. 19) ideational level. This is a commercially uninteresting process, but for democratic life the free production of ideas and According to Barber, it is a myth that democracy and the free the free confrontation of ideas is essential. Thus, an inde- market are inseparable Siamese twins. This has been an of- pendent domain is needed within which such a confronta- ten-repeated mantram, especially since the collapse of com- tion of political ideas can take place. If the anti-democratic munism. In reality, the free market demonstrates a remark- tendency of McWorld is to be opposed, then it is essential able adaptability and the system flourishes even in despotic to create a free space in which ideas can confront each other states such as Chile, South Korea, Panama and Singapore. and concepts be worked out, uninfluenced by economic forc- China is currently one of the least democratic countries, but es. In such a free space, among other things, a genuine pub- it is also the country with the fastest growing market. In fact, lic broadcasting service – radio and television – could play a what McWorld needs for its development is stability, not de- major role. The existence of independent media is becoming mocracy. McWorld is not interested in collective concerns, increasingly essential for the survival and, even more, for the such as employment or environmental issues. On the con- further growth of democracy (see chapter 5, California). trary, McWorld is driven by the profit motive (“McWorld is nothing if not a market”, p. 29) and actually exports its prob- According to Barber, a new type of capitalism has been cre- lems into the community. In 2005, to great applause from ated with McWorld. This new capitalism demands the same market analysts, General Motors fired 20,000 employees. laissez-faire principles and argues just as much against state Private profits were secured and the business became ‘leaner intervention as the old capitalism. The new element, how- and meaner’, as intended. The costs of the dismissals had ever, is that McWorld operates globally, not nationally; at this to be met by the local community and the local state. What global level it is confronted by no state which can defend the McWorld wants is consumers who have access to the market, law against the market in the way that is still possible in na- and political stability is needed for this. In McWorld’s world, tional economies. This enables McWorld to have enormous consumerism, relativism and corruption are the alternatives dominance over the nation states. The free-market ideology to the traditionalism of Jihad. is the battering ram that McWorld uses to demolish the walls of the nationally organised constitutional state. “Unfairness Barber argues against the followers of Milton Friedman, who (...) turns out to be a crucial trait of McWorld.”] (Barber,1995, maintain that markets are a kind of democracy because they p. 42). The international trade in raw materials, for instance, allow us to ‘vote’ with our money (we buy what we find attrac- leads to gross inequalities, through which the world becomes tive): “Economic choices are private, about individual needs a playground for some, but a graveyard for others. and desires; whereas political choices are public, about the nature of goods. As a consumer, one may buy a powerful car Because, on the one hand, McWorld promotes globalisation, that can go 130 miles per hour, yet without contradiction the but, on the other, this globalisation occurs without (social) jus- very same person may as a citizen vote for speed limits in tice – so that on a worldwide scale there are major violations the name of public safety and environmental preservation.” of the principle of equality – McWorld opens the floodgates (Barber, 1995, p. 296-297) to Jihad. Oil production is an excellent example. The three richest countries in the world – the US, Japan and Germany Barber also touches on the problem of bad taste in this con- – consume half of the total world production; but together text. It is a well-known phenomenon: magazines, TV sta- they import more than half of all the energy they need. The tions, etc., that want to attract the largest numbers of readers majority of this oil comes from countries in the Middle East or viewers are always forced in the direction of bad taste and which are extremely susceptible to Jihad. These are countries

29 in which ethnically or religiously inspired conflicts can erupt attention to its primacy as an associated mode of living in very easily. “Better than three-fifths of the world’s current oil a civil society. A global democracy capable of countering the production (and almost 93 percent of its potential produc- antidemocratic tendencies of Jihad and McWorld cannot be tion reserves) are controlled by the nations least likely to be at borrowed from some particular nation’s warehouse or copied home in McWorld and most likely to be afflicted with political, from an abstract constitutional template. Citizenship, wheth- social, and thus economic instability.” (Barber, 1995, p. 48) er global or local, comes first.” (Barber, 1995, p. 279)

The big issue is, of course, how this active citizenship can be The autonomy of the democratic centre recreated. How is it that at the time de Tocqueville visited the United States there was such a closely-knit social fabric and McWorld threatens to impose a one-sided economic and very so much social capital? There were two reasons. undemocratic domination on the world, a world dominated by the ‘Hollywood’ ideology, a world also without justice. Bar- First, the national state, over which the citizens had little con- ber’s alternative to this is not a society dominated by a mono- trol, was of only limited importance. Political life was basically lithic state, but rather an ‘separated’ world characterised by structured federally: “Government, especially at the federal a wide variety of autonomous spheres of life: “We are gov- level, was a modest affair (probably too modest for some of the erned best when we live in several spheres, each with its own tasks it needed to accomplish) because the constitution had rules and benefits, none wholly dominated by another. The left all powers not specifically delegated to it to the states and political domain is ‘sovereign’ to be sure, but this means only people.” (Barber, 1995, p. 282) A federal form of state is essen- that it regulates the many domains of a free plural society tial for the creation and retention of social capital, because it is in a fashion that preserves their respective autonomies. The here that the individual is considered to be the basic unit (any usurping domination of McWorld has, however, shifted sov- delegation to higher community levels proceeds from the in- ereignty to the domain of global corporations and the world dividual) and because moral intuition and social commitment markets they control, and has threatened the autonomy of can, by definition, only be generated by individuals. civil society and its cultural and spiritual domains, as well as of politics. The alternative (...) is not a state-dominated soci- A second reason was that the impact of the market on the ety in place of a market-dominated society, but a many-sec- community was small: “Markets were also modest affairs, tored civil society in which the autonomy of each distinctive regional in nature and dominated by other associations and domain – the economic market included – is guaranteed by affections.” (Barber, 1995, p. 282) the sovereignty of the democratic state. Only a democratic polity has an interest in and the power to preserve the au- The result was that, in the America of de Tocqueville, the citi- tonomy of the several realms. When other domains wrest zens played a real part in shaping their society. They decided sovereignty away from the state, whether they are religious what their society should look like in association with each or economic, the result is a kind of totalitarian coordination other. There was therefore a powerful motivation for them to – in the Middle Ages it was theocratic; in this age of McWorld form efficient and effective associations. The network of mu- it is economistic.” (Barber, 1995, p. 296) tual trust and the feeling of responsibility for the ‘res publica’ thus created is what generates ‘social capital’. According to Barber, we must aim for a disentangled society and the first step towards this is the creation of an autono- Attacks then came from two sides against this social capital mous political-democratic domain, because this domain is – this fundamentally democratic, mainly locally structured the only one that by its nature is concerned with the structur- social fabric. ing of society as a whole. On the one hand, the market began to take over. Citizens The question then is: how can we take steps to create such started to see themselves more and more as consumers: an independent political-democratic domain? It is a formida- voluntary social inputs were supplanted by commercial in- ble challenge for there is no global state of any kind to con- terests. The replacement of voluntary blood donation in the front the global character of McWorld, never mind a global USA by commercial blood collection services (where donors democratic state. Barber’s basic principle is this: democracy are paid) is a classic example of this process [see 3-2]. On is not an institution, it is a way of life based on individual the other hand, the government began to interfere more and responsibility and sense of community: “A people corrupted more in social life. The increasing role of the markets made by tribalism and numbed by McWorld is no more ready to greater government intervention essential. The local com- receive a prefabricated democratic constitution than a people munity no longer had control of the market, and the state emerging from a long history of despotism and tyranny. Nor had to intervene in the public interest. But in the process can democracy be someone’s gift to the powerless. It must be the state simultaneously took over significant areas of social seized by them because they refuse to live without liberty and responsibility from the citizens. they insist on justice for all. To prepare the ground for democracy today either in transitional societies or on a global scale “It was only when individuals who thought of themselves as is first to re-create citizens who will demand democracy: this citizens began to see themselves as consumers, and groups means laying a foundation in civil society and civic culture. that were regarded as voluntary associations were supplanted Democracy is not a universal prescription for some singularly by corporations legitimised as ‘legal persons’, that market remarkable form of government, it is an admonition to peo- forces began to encroach on and crush civil society from the ple to live in a certain fashion: responsibly, autonomously yet private sector side. Once markets began to expand radically, on common ground, in self-determining communities some- government responded with an aggressive campaign on be- how still open to others, with tolerance and mutual respect half of the public weal against the new monopolies, inadvert- yet a firm sense of their own values. When John Dewey called ently crushing civil society from the state side. Squeezed be- democracy a way of life – it is the idea of community life it- tween the warring realms of the two expanding monopolies, self, he insisted – rather than a way of government, he called statist and corporate, civil society lost its pre-eminent place in

30 American life. By the time of the two Roosevelts it had nearly Barber’s reasoning fails to take his analysis of the anti-dem- vanished and its civic denizens had been compelled to find ocratic consequences of Jihad and McWorld to its logical sanctuary under the feudal tutelage of either big government conclusion. After all, why has social capital been crushed (their protectors and social servants) or the private sector, between the market and the state in the USA? Because Mc- where schools, churches, unions, foundations, and other as- World extends its tentacles beyond the market, beyond the sociations could assume the identity of corporations and as- sphere of economics, to the constitutional state, with a si- pire to be no more than special interest groups formed for multaneous devastating effect on culture. But also because the particularistic ends of their members. Whether those ends – an altogether more subtle point – Jihad strives to subject were, say, market profitability or environmental preservation, the state to one particular culture or one particular religion. was irrelevant since by definition all private associations nec- At the heart of Jihad is always the aim of ideological domi- essarily had private ends. Schools became interest groups for nance, a patronizing attitude which seeks to rob citizens of people with children (parents) rather than forges of a free so- their independence and adulthood and reduce them to being ciety; churches became confessional special interest groups subjects of a state that looks after their inner welfare. Jihad is pursuing separate agendas rather than sources of moral fibre the denial of the separation of ideology and state. The blend- for the larger society (as Tocqueville had thought they would ing of religion and the state as is seen, for example, in Iran be); voluntary associations became a variation on private lob- or Saudi Arabia, is merely the most striking form of this as- bies rather than the free spaces where women and men prac- sociation between Jihad and the state. The ‘dictatorship of ticed an apprenticeship of liberty.” (Barber, 1995, p. 282-283). the proletariat’, the aim of communist regimes, is another extreme example. The second proposition follows from this: citizens must be able to take their fate into their own hands again. Barber ar- Much less conspicuous, but all the more powerful in its ef- gues, for example (in his earlier book ‘Strong Democracy’), fects is what happens in the countries of the West – the fusion for a series of measures, including the introduction of nation- of the state with the ideology of the free market, accompanied al referendums, which are currently completely unknown in by the infantilization of the population under the banner of the USA. One might say that a radical-democratic federalism ‘representative democracy’. McWorld is not interested in the is the natural biotope within which social capital can be cre- nation state – but Jihad is. Jihad and McWorld cooperate in ated. The observations of de Tocqueville, backed up by count- the sphere on which they are in agreement: the suppression less other anthropological and psychological studies, show of democracy. Jihad takes over the state, ideologically defend- that people really do have the potential to generate social capi- ing the domination of McWorld in combination with the tal. However, two conditions must first be fulfilled. Firstly, most varied forms of tribalism. Nationalism combined with federalism must be consistent in taking the individual as its a defence of McWorld: that is the most efficient way for Jihad starting-point: the conditions must be created which will al- to maintain its grip on the population with the help of the low people to take their fate into their own hands. A purely state. This can lead to the strangest situations – such as that representative democracy (called ‘thin democracy’ by Barber) in Saudi Arabia, where close external economic cooperation which, by delegating responsibilities, forces people to surren- with the West goes hand-in-hand with the most reactionary der control of their own fate, is wholly unsuitable for this. domestic treatment of women and non-Muslims: McWorld hand-in-hand with Jihad. Secondly, within such a democratic federal structure, the willingness must also be developed to roll back McWorld and Barber was correct in asserting that civil society must regain Jihad. Only then can a democratic culture be created worthy the middle ground. Nevertheless, it is inaccurate to site this of the name. That is not a simple task. The old type of social middle ground between government and the private sector. capital, so admired by de Tocqueville, came into being spon- In a democratic society, the government should not form an taneously and unconsciously in favourable circumstances. autonomous centre of power ranged against its citizens: it But precisely because it was unconscious, it was unable to should be nothing more than the democratic expression of offer any resistance later, when the circumstances were less the people’s will. In fact, the creation of a genuine civil soci- favourable, and it disintegrated. The preconditions for the ety would drive Jihad out of the government and force it back generation of new social capital must in future be very con- into the arena in which it plays its rightful role – the sphere sciously created and maintained. of culture in all its aspects: the democratic forging of perceptions and the free clash of concepts, between which a ‘holy war’ can and must be waged. And McWorld must also be The domain of Jihad and McWorld driven back into its original domain – that of economics. As Barber remarks in his book’s epilogue, Jihad and McWorld However, Barber did not fully develop this final step in his are not bad in absolute terms. It is not Jihad and McWorld as argument. This is the weakness of his otherwise splendid such that must be opposed, but their tendency to take over book. Barber deduces from the picture outlined above that civil society. There must be a fundamental separation of Jihad the bipolar thinking of ‘state versus private sector’ must be (the world of culture and cultural individuality), McWorld abandoned and, in its place, a tripartite structure must be (the economic world) and the democratic constitutional state adopted in which civil society can take its place again be- (see also Steiner, 1919, 1999). And that can only be achieved tween the state and the private sector. by means of a radical democratic federalism.

31 3-1: NIMBY – or citizenship and democracy The Dutch economist Arjo Klamer (1995) described this effect as follows: “Some years ago, I took over part-time care ‘Not in my back yard’ (NIMBY) problems are the order of of two children, then aged five and seven. I decided to ap- the day. The majority of people agree about the need for ply the principles of economics and assign a certain value airports, incinerators, accommodation for asylum seekers to good and bad deeds – fifty cents for helping to tidy up, and radioactive waste storage. It is just that people do not twenty-five cents for taking the dog out without moaning; want this type of facility in their own back yard. A facility a one guilder fine for starting for starting a quarrel, thirty that everyone wants in theory, but which nobody would tol- cents for a mess in the room, and so on. Everything was erate in his or her own neighbourhood, is saddled with a discussed with the children beforehand. Against the better NIMBY problem. judgement of my wife, I was convinced of the value of my approach. In this economic system I no longer had to be the Usually the site for such a facility is imposed on a local perpetual ogre; responsibility was passed to the children. community by the government, possibly accompanied by Exactly as it should be.” financial or other compensation. An interesting situation exists in Switzerland, where local communities have a right The approach seemed at first to be a success. The number of veto on the siting of such facilities (via a local citizen- of quarrels decreased and the children were helpful. How- initiated referendum or public assembly). In 1993, citizens ever, Klamer soon discovered an unexpected ‘loss-leader’. in four villages were asked what their reaction would be if His children became less responsive to moral considera- a storage facility for nuclear waste was to be built in their tions. “When I tackled the younger one about his teacher’s municipality. The four communities had been selected as complaint that he frequently shouted in class, he respond- the most suitable sites by the Swiss geological service. The ed completely in line with my economic approach. He pro- answers given would not be without significance, because posed a deal: two guilders for the right to shout in the class- a decision on the siting was about to be made – and the room. In complete negation of the principles I myself had result of the poll would be published before the decision proposed, I heard myself reply: ‘No way. I just want you to was announced. stop doing it. If you carry on doing it, then you’ll have me to deal with.’ The economic approach had failed.” It turned out that 50.8% of those questioned said they would accept the facility, as opposed to 44.9% against. In 1970, the book The Gift Relationship appeared, in which What was remarkable was that as soon as a proposal was Titmuss described the effects of the commercialisation of made to offer financial compensation, support collapsed. blood doning. During the 1960s, a commercial system of With a proposed annual compensation level of between blood doning gradually became widespread in the USA (be- 2,500 and 7,500 Swiss francs (roughly 1,500-4,500 Euro tween 1965 and 1967 80% of the blood came from paid or £1,110- £3,300 pounds sterling), support for the nuclear donors), whereas the system of voluntary blood donation dump dropped from 50.8% to 24.6%. The percentage re- remained in place in the UK. Titmuss found that the volun- mained unchanged even when the amount of compensa- tary system was much cheaper and was less prone to prob- tion was increased. lems with contaminated blood.

The survey showed that the fairness of the decision-making Titmuss asked voluntary blood donors about their motives procedure played a crucial role in the potential acceptability and came to the conclusion that the majority of blood do- of the site. People seemed able to accept the result more nors could not explain their motives without resorting to easily if they also accepted the way the decision had been moral concepts in some way or other. In fact, it seems that reached. Offering financial compensation fundamentally voluntary blood doning is difficult to explain in any other changed the way the decision was made. Where there is way than arising out of an intrinsic sense of civic duty or a decision-making process with a direct-democratic local sense of community in those concerned. Phenomena such right of veto, there is a strong appeal to people’s public-spir- as voluntary blood doning demonstrate that, contrary to itedness and objectivity. If the issue is tied up with financial what some people assert, ‘the citizen’ really does exist. compensation, people begin to suspect that they are being bribed. The appeal is no longer to their civic sense, and the Titmuss’ research produced several other remarkable re- implicit message is that they are seen as ‘family-centred sults. It seemed that the introduction of commercial blood amoralists’ who have to be persuaded by external financial doning had a very negative initial effect on voluntary blood inducement. This kind of shift from intrinsic to external doning. The motivation of the voluntary donors was appar- motivation leads to a serious loss of social capital. (Ober- ently affected by the fact that elsewhere in society people holzer-Gee et al, 1995) were being paid for a service that they were providing freely. This phenomenon is also known as the ‘spill-over effect’. If a person discovers that someone else is being paid for their 3-2: Blood doning – paid and unpaid input, they are less inclined to perform the service voluntarily themselves. Social capital is present when people do something – cham- pion a cause, for example – for inner or intrinsic reasons. In the paid system, the quality of the blood collected was If people do something reluctantly and only for an external endangered, especially because people from all sorts of at- reason – just because they are paid to do it, for example risk groups came to donate blood in exchange for payment. – that affects the intrinsic motivation. The inner drive to That is why the system of paid blood donation was wound do something is weakened and social capital is lost. In this down again in the US. Between 1971 and 1980, the volume sense, commerce displaces social capital [see also 3-1]. of paid-for blood fell by 76%. Over the same period, the volume of voluntarily donated blood rose by 39%. The capacity

32 to donate for intrinsic reasons can, therefore, be restored. Control over economic processes shifted away from the However, the recovery initially takes some time. local community; external factors, mainly technical inventions, began to play an increasingly significant role. The We believe we now know why Arjo Klamer’s pedagogic ap- farmer also became dependent on the bank. “Sometime proach failed. We also understand, perhaps, why it is best if during the 1960s, there was a complete change of attitude” blood doning remains unpaid. However, is it not possible that among the farmers of Jorwerd about getting into debt. “For in many respects we now find ourselves in a situation simi- some of them, the path to the bank started with the pur- lar to that which Klamers’ children would have ended up in chase of their first tractor at the end of the 1950s. The ma- if he had continued with his disastrous educational project? jority of farmers could still afford to buy one out of their Because it is not at all clear why what applies to the donation own pockets. But more and more money was needed: for of blood should not also apply to the readiness to donate ones machines, for byres, for all sorts of new acquisitions. And labour and social involvement for the collective good. then, around 1975, when the money from the dairy was no longer paid in cash on the kitchen table (...) the bank became a fixture in the farmers’ lives” (p. 88). 3-3: About Jorwerd The inhabitants of Jorwerd became less dependent upon Countless books have been written about the transforma- each other and more dependent on strangers from outside tion of village life. But the story of how “market forces be- the village. Take the village blacksmith, for example: “The gan to encroach on and crush civil society from the private blacksmith at Jorwerd was, like most village blacksmiths, sector side” (Barber) is perhaps nowhere more grippingly a real jack-of-all-trades. He shoed horses, repaired roof recounted than in the book by Geert Mak which has already guttering, installed stoves and didn’t balk at the complete become a classic: Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd’ (‘How God overhaul of a tractor. On some ice rinks in Friesland, old Re- disappeared from Jorwerd’, 1996). nault 4 cars which he had cleverly converted into ice-sweep- ing machines were still being driven around years later. His Jorwerd is a small farming village in the north of Holland, modified Harley-Davidson ice sweeper was a great success, in the province of Friesland. Up until forty or fifty years too. He loved technology for its own sake – but technology ago, the farmers had the core elements of the agricultural finally went too fast for him to keep up.” (p. 148) “Any vil- economy under their control, even if that economy did not lage blacksmith could repair the most important machines produce very much. It began right at the family level: “The on a 1970s farm without any difficulty: tractor, mowing typical rural families with lots of children did not have it machine, milking machine, manure spreader and much easy most of the time, but they always had one advantage more besides. That was no longer the case for the tractors compared to families in the towns: they usually had their and milking machines that appeared on the market after own vegetables, their own meat, milk, butter, cheese, eggs the 1970s. They were so full of technology and electronics and potatoes, and thus they were more or less self-suffi- that only well-trained young mechanics could master them. cient.” (p. 22) As a result, an ordinary, old-fashioned blacksmith was out of his depth. In this respect, too, the farmers became in- What was bought (coffee, tea, sugar, soap etc.) did not repre- creasingly dependent on intangible economic forces in the sent a major outlay. But the point is that they decided what outside world” (p. 150). “In this way, something in Jorwerd they needed and whether and when to buy it. However, that that had been an essential part of the farmers’ lives for cen- changed: “Up until the 1960s, many farmers rarely went turies disappeared: their own small economy within the big into a shop. The tradespeople came to the people at home.” economy. The boundaries between the two became unclear, An elderly lady who lived in the village told the author: more and more holes appeared in the dyke of trust and tra- “We wrote down what we needed in a little order book, but dition, and suddenly the village economy was swept away as nothing more. Coffee was coffee, tea was tea, and soap was if it had never existed.” (p. 151) soap. A week’s shopping for the entire family never cost me more than about twenty guilders” (p. 22). This system As control over the economy, both consumption and pro- finally disappeared irrevocably in the 1970s. People had be- duction, slipped away, the state began to intervene more and come mobile, the traders in Jorwerd died out, advertising more with regulations, exactly as Barber describes. For the and low prices in the big shops in town, which had become farmers in Jorwerd and elsewhere, the introduction of the accessible thanks to the car, completely changed their buy- milk quota had enormous consequences. In 1984, the Euro- ing behaviour. pean Agriculture Ministers decided to put the brakes on the overproduction of milk. Each farmer would only be allowed That is what happened in terms of consumption. But con- to produce a certain quota; every litre of milk produced in trol of production also moved out of the village, because in- excess of the quota would result in a heavy fine. There was dustrial technology increasingly took over agriculture. First soon a roaring trade in milk quotas. A farmer who was al- of all came the milking machines, and the tractor replaced located a milk quota of 250,000 litres was in effect given a the horse. Investment in this technology was not yet a prob- million guilders’ worth (around £300,000) of milk rights, lem for the majority of farmers. But this, too, changed in which he or she could sell. Later, a manure quota was also the 1970s. The refrigerated milk storage tank became the introduced. A cattle farmer was not allowed to produce more norm, for example: “The farmers had to purchase big re- than a certain amount of manure. Another roaring trade frigerated tanks. Gone were the days of the old-fashioned was created. Pig breeders were prepared to pay to be able to milk churns that were left by the roadside at the farm gate dump their surplus manure on someone else’s land (p. 97). every morning and evening; gone was the local milk lorry From the point of view of the social fabric, it is significant which came to pick them up; gone, too, the clatter and chat- that these regulations were another element over which the ter of the many small dairies” (p. 87). individual farmer had absolutely no control, but which dras-

33 tically affected his or her life and, moreover, started to make 19th century, incorporating elements of direct democracy that life more and more a kind of virtual reality. One farmer from the start, Switzerland has been virtually the only state summed up the impact of these shifts as follows: “You’re not in Europe never to go to war (only Sweden has had a longer a farmer any more, you’re just a producer.” peace). The reason is simple: ordinary people rarely want a war. Democracies have better methods for solving con- The loss of control over ones life has not been compensated flicts than violence. Put another way: if states democratise for by more democracy. People’s desire to shape their own internally they will become much more peaceful. There has communities has been neither recognised nor honoured. already been a consensus among academics for a long time Governments chose patronising prevarication, even if it now that democracies (by which they mean states with free costs lots of money: “While the newspapers and the politi- elections and the protection of human rights) do not make cal world were overflowing with stories about ‘self-help’ and war against each other. On the other hand, however, aca- ‘self-sufficiency’, it was striking how little the administra- demics have frequently observed that democracies are just tion took advantage of the opportunities that the sense of as warlike against other states as authoritarian states are. local community still offered in practice. Almost all the ma- Rummel (1995) shows, nevertheless, that this latter propo- jor changes – filling in the harbour, new buildings – had sition is based on statistics of conflicts that make no distinc- previously been proposed by the inhabitants themselves. tion between a relatively small conflict in which there were Later, the administration did not appreciate this type of ini- a thousand deaths, and a war in which a million died. If tiative anymore. The path to the playing field, for instance, the numbers of dead are examined, however, there is a very was a big pool of mud, but when Willem Osinga proposed clear link: the more democratic a state is, the less deaths it putting it right with a handful of men on a couple of Satur- causes in conflicts. day afternoons – there were still some spare paving stones lying around somewhere, and the municipality only had to In short: if you want peace, you can strive to keep poten- supply a load of sand – it just didn’t happen. Later, the mu- tially troublesome powers under control by placing an even nicipality did the work itself at a cost of 30,000 guilders. higher power over them (as the EU ideology desires); but ‘We could have used that money to do a whole load of other permanent peace is much better achieved by dismantling things in the village’, Osinga grumbled.” (p. 207) such powers from the inside. It would therefore be a logical step to introduce direct democracy in the current states, instead of setting up transnational super-states into which 3-4: The European Union the national states must be absorbed. There is no guarantee that these super-states will not turn into regional powers The European Union has extended itself in all directions which could find a reason for attacking each other. If the during recent decades. It has gathered more powers for it- logic is pursued, there is then a need for an even larger state self with each treaty amendment, and almost every govern- that must try to keep the regional super-states away from ment in Europe has decided in favour of accession, whether each other’s throats. We would then end up with a single the citizens agreed with this or not. In most cases the deci- authoritarian world state – not an attractive prospect. sion on accession was made without a referendum. The infamous “democratic deficit” in the European Union Today, an estimated 50% of the national legislation originates exists because the national governments (without authori- in Brussels. This Brussels legislation amounts in total to sation from their citizens) have ceded power to the EU bod- some 100,000 pages. The EU budget of more than 100 bil- ies to make laws that now prevail over their national laws lion euros per annum is bigger than that of many EU mem- and constitutions. National parliaments have no control ber states. “The European institutions currently exercise over this. The national heads of government and ministers more day-to-day power than each of the member states does have (through their participation in the European Council) separately for itself”, in the opinion of the German constitu- control over some key EU legislation, but because they meet tional judge Udo di Fabrio. At the same time, the EU is so behind closed doors, national parliaments never know how undemocratic that the European Commissioner responsible their head of government or minister has voted in Brussels. for EU expansion, Günther Verheugen, once remarked: “If If ministers claim that they have done exactly what their na- the EU itself were to apply for membership, we would have tional parliaments asked of them, the parliaments have no to say: ‘democratically deficient’.” (Oldag and Tillack, 2003, way of opposing this. The European Parliament cannot fill pages 17 to 19; see also Booker and North, 2005) this gap, because it has hardly any powers. It has no right to decide on the most important issues and it is also unable to To the superficial observer, the EU seems to have solved dismiss individual members of the European Commission many modern problems. According to its supporters, after (the quasi-government of the EU). The former President two world wars, the EU can be credited with having pre- of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, once called vented a new war in Europe. But that completely ignores the EU a “gentle tyranny”. (Oldag and Tillack, 2003, p. 35) how the First and Second World Wars arose. These were In fact, this involves a double democratic crisis: at a time caused by elites who ruled in an undemocratic manner, when the people are no longer satisfied with a representa- developed their plans in secret and usually initiated war tive system (see 1-1), even the very limited say that citizens against the will of the majority, as surveys from those times have via this representative system has once again been un- show. What the EU has done is to place an even higher pow- dermined on all sides. er elite above these older power elites, and it must now try to keep them under control. The so-called European Constitution, which was prepared in Brussels but was rejected in May and June 2005 by the The example of Switzerland shows an entirely different ap- voters in the referendums in France and the Netherlands, proach: since it began as a federation in the middle of the would do little to solve these problems. The European Parlia-

34 ment would get more decision-making power, but would still member state are different and each government has differ- have no right of initiative and would not be able to dismiss ent requirements. Often nobody is happy with the compro- individual Commissioners. The European Constitution does mise, because all the member states (currently 27) have to indeed provide more openness in the EU Council of Minis- be satisfied. A simple solution – which, among others, Frey ters, but this openness is still limited and, even more signifi- (1999) has argued for – would be that European member cantly, it would not apply to the heads of government in the states always stipulate for each subject with which other European Council. It is precisely there that the most impor- member states they will introduce joint legislation, as a re- tant decisions are taken, such as: European treaties (which sult of which ‘overlapping jurisdictions’ are created. In each contain the most important agreements), the EU budget and case, other states could then always decide which jurisdic- the deployment of European forces outside the EU. tion they would join. Moreover, Frey suggests that the citizens can decide directly-democratically within these juris- Another key problem in the EU is its centralism, which is dictions, which is what already happens in Switzerland, as even further reinforced by the draft European Constitution. described above. This proposal of Frey contains exactly the EU laws are always fully valid in all EU member states, or mixture between federalism and direct democracy that, as they are valid nowhere. That creates much ado and smooth we saw in this chapter, will prove to be crucial for genuine talking in practice, because the circumstances in each EU peaceful and productive coexistence in the 21st century.

35 4. The democratic person

Democracy and motivation litical activity. Because morals fall outside the boundaries of science, and yet are the basis of politics, politics is in principle A purely parliamentary decision-making system is not a de- independent of science. That is not an unscientific or anti-sci- mocracy. In such a system, the people cannot prevent the im- entific viewpoint. It is nothing more than a confirmation of plementation of an unwanted law. In a real democracy, where the fact that the natural sciences cannot fully describe human there is any doubt, the people always have the last word. reality, because they are limited to material things.

However, the opponents of direct democracy do not allow The origin of morality is often explained by reference to Dar- themselves to be persuaded by such a simple principle. Their winian ‘natural selection’ (De Waal, 1996; Ridley, 1996). It is resistance to direct democracy does not usually rely on pure- asserted, for example, that human tribes with a more strongly rational grounds. Their opposition to the idea of full popu- ly developed moral ‘instinct’ demonstrated better internal lar sovereignty also derives from a gut instinct rooted in a cohesion and were therefore superior to tribes with a less fundamental distrust of people. The universal franchise and well-developed moral instinct. A tribe whose members are women’s right to vote also had to cope with similar irrational continually fighting each other due to a lack of moral instinct resistance before they were finally introduced. will weaken itself and be defeated in the struggle against a tribe whose members assist and support each other. This is Opponents of direct democracy believe that when people how Darwin himself explained the origin of the ‘moral in- vote, they allow themselves to be swayed primarily by private stincts’ of humans – an approach that is now widespread. and egocentric motives. According to this view, majorities However, there are fundamental problems with this explana- would always mercilessly suppress minorities. Higher, uni- tion. Darwinian selection cannot explain the phenomenon versal-human objectives would never be aimed for in a direct of consciousness. That an antelope notices a lion and then democracy. Representative democracy, on the other hand, takes flight can be fully explained in the causal-mechanis- enables a moral elite to make the decisions. This elite is then tic interpretation (on which Darwinism is based) via a series required to recognise and serve the general public interest. of purely physical mechanisms. Light falls on the antelope’s retina; a signal is transmitted across the optic nerves to the Opponents of direct democracy, therefore, have a very spe- brain, where the stimulus is converted via particular mech- cific view of people and of society. They consider society in anisms into a motor response, etc. The flight behaviour of essence as a kind of jungle, a snake pit in which countless the antelope and the selective advantage arising from this private interests are in conflict with each other. Opponents depend solely and entirely on the antelope’s physical organ- therefore implicitly adopt a particular motivational theory, ism. The contents of the animal’s consciousness, its feelings according to which people are primarily motivated by self- of fear or aggression, do not play the slightest role and thus interest. They reject the logical arguments in favour of di- cannot provide any selective advantage. rect democracy, and even the evidence from good practice in countries where direct-democratic systems have existed for In the case of the antelope, therefore, the causal-mechanistic centuries, because deep inside they consider the average per- view falls short in two respects. Firstly, the laws of physics son to be morally defective and incompetent. give no clues at all as to the phenomenon of consciousness. Secondly, this interpretation does not leave any room for the In what follows, therefore, we wish to have a closer look at possibility that consciousness can provide some selective ad- the phenomenon of human motivation. The impatient read- vantage. er can, however, immediately skip to chapter 5. The antelope’s feeling of fear cannot therefore be explained by reference to physical mechanisms, nor does it give the Good and evil as political core concepts antelope any advantage in the struggle for survival.

Morality is not to be found anywhere in the material world. What is true for the antelope’s feeling of fear also applies, mu- The laws of physics do not explain the existence of conscious- tatis mutandis, to the moral judgement of humans. This mor- ness (Searle, 1992; Penrose, 1994). Consciousness does not al judgement is also a content of consciousness which cannot play any role in physics because the latter does not describe be explained physically, and which likewise cannot provide a single causal relationship that calls on the phenomenon of any selective benefit. If a human being is “a chemical proc- consciousness. Rather, one must say that consciousness is a ess like any other” (the Dutch writer W.F. Hermans), then prerequisite for being able to describe physical laws and rela- the selective advantage that comes from cooperation arises in tionships. Physics does not include consciousness, even if it a manner that excludes any role for consciousness or moral is a prerequisite for physical research and discovery. judgement. Because consciousness and moral judgement play no role in the creation of selective advantage, they them- Because moral choice always presumes consciousness, phys- selves cannot be explained by a Darwinian selection process. ics can never provide a basis for any distinction between what is ‘morally good’ and what is ‘morally evil’. But politics cannot The mechanistic view of reality, moreover, results in a kind of operate without constant reference to good and evil, because logical short-circuit. If our thinking is entirely determined by it is about making a choice between several different meas- physico-chemical processes in our brain, our search for truth ures. If one measure cannot be judged to be ‘morally bet- and understanding is necessarily an illusion. We would nev- ter’ than another in some sort of fundamental way, politics er be able to find out whether a percept that appears to us as is meaningless. On the contrary, the real existence of these logical and correct is actually true in reality. We cannot rule moral distinctions must be taken as the basic principle of po- out that possibility – but it could equally well be the case that

36 the appearance of logical correctness is false and is merely Benjamin Barber (1984) attached great importance to this being generated by the succession of chemical and physical non-reducible character of political science and of political ac- processes in our brains. If we believe that our thinking is tivity. Politics is more than the pragmatic search for the best entirely determined by these kinds of physico-chemical proc- possible solution to a given set of circumstances. There is a esses, we must also assume that every impression of logical creative dynamic in politics, a dynamic of free moral choice. correctness could in reality be an illusion conjured up by the What constitutes a good solution does not follow automati- chemical processes in our brains. This uncertainty applies to cally from the facts of the given situation. The right solution all our opinions – including our assumption that thinking is emerges because people add something entirely new to the fully reducible to physico-chemical phenomena. As Popper given situation. The political sciences are independent of the (1982) rightly remarks, this mechanistic view of the origin of natural sciences because they deal with ethical issues (which thinking is thus self-destructive. are not required to be considered in the natural sciences), and because an ethical solution always contains a creative el- Observation teaches us that sound brain function is without ement as well. Political actions are different from, for exam- doubt an essential precondition for the emergence of human ple, the actions of an engineer who is searching for the best thoughts and judgements, as also for human actions. But this possible solution to a technical problem. The engineer only does not mean that the content of thinking can be fully reduced applies natural laws to a given situation. What constitutes to chemical processes in the brain. In order for me to listen to a the best solution from a technical perspective follows unam- radio programme, it is essential that my radio is working prop- biguously from the material facts. Politically active people erly. But that does not mean that the content of the programme add their own moral universe to the basic situation. This is a is explained by the inner workings of the radio. fundamental difference.

On the contrary: in following a scientific proof step by step, for instance, it is only intrinsic, purely mathematical or logi- Three visions of the human being – cal, considerations that take us from one step to the next three visions of democracy in the reasoning. And intrinsic considerations as such can never be deduced from a purely physico-chemical configura- The most fundamental question – the key question of politics tion. The meaning of a road sign, for example, can never be – is the question of what the ‘moral good’ actually means. And deduced from its material components. The meaning of a this question leads to an extraordinarily interesting paradox. word chalked up on a blackboard can never be deduced from the shape and composition of the chalk marks. The road sign The concept of ‘moral good’ only makes sense if we accept or the chalk marks can in principle have very many different that ‘the good’ transcends individual discretion. We cannot meanings; they do not in themselves lead to a single specific arbitrarily choose what we call ‘good’ and what not. The con- meaning or line of thought. A man from Mars could never cept of ‘morality’ or the ‘moral good’ includes an element deduce the meaning of a road sign from the physical and that transcends individual choice. chemical analysis of that sign (e.g. a metal disc or triangle, painted white with a red border). In exactly the same way, But individual freedom is an essential aspect of the concept the content element of a consideration or thought can never of ‘moral good’. Freedom implies the possibility of choice. A be deduced from a specific chemical configuration in the deed or decision can only be ‘morally good’ to the extent that brain. The above-mentioned Martian would never be able to the deed is ultimately rooted in the freedom of choice of the reconstruct the thought content of a brain from a physical individual. If a deed is ultimately the product of an external and chemical analysis of it, because that content exists purely force, however subtle that may be, the categories of ‘good’ in the consciousness of the owner of the brain at that specific and ‘evil’ no longer apply. moment. In this respect there is no basic difference between the road sign and the brain. There are two sides to morality. Morality transcends individual discretion: that is the suprapersonal aspect of morals. Yet Thus, we cannot consider thought contents as anything other morality can only come from the freedom of the individual than autonomous realities that are not reducible to material who acts, and from nothing else: that is the individual aspect processes. If one wishes to demonstrate the correctness of a of morals. These two aspects have a paradoxical relationship mathematical proof, there is no point in using a microscope with each other. How can morality be simultaneously indi- to examine the brain processes of the mathematician in ques- vidual and suprapersonal? tion. One must examine the mathematical logic using ones own faculty of discernment as the instrument of perception. On this point, it is crucial to make a distinction between freedom and licence. Freedom distinguishes itself from licence Equally, if we want to develop rational concepts of political or through what can variously be termed involvement, attach- social action, we must likewise approach the distinction be- ment, connectedness or commitment [cf. below for more on the tween good and evil from a non-deducible basic assumption: difficulty of precisely defining this concept]. political and social issues are always ethical issues at heart, and political solutions are always ethical solutions. However We express our own individuality through the word ‘I’. With- much one might try to twist and turn the argument, ethics out an ‘I’, there is no moral freedom, no distinction between always ultimately concerns the distinction between good and good and evil, and thus no politics either. But what exactly is evil. The concept of the ‘morally good’ is always central to this individuality, which we normally refer to as ‘I’? The ‘I’ political debate. Because moral judgements, just like all the must clearly be distinguished from its ‘possessions’. I ‘have’ contents of consciousness, cannot be reduced to physico- a body, a gender, and a native language. I experience pleas- chemical processes, and because they are at the heart of all ure and pain. I have memories and ambitions. However, the political activity, the latter cannot – as a matter of principle word ‘I’ makes it clear that I am not all of this – but can place – be reduced to physico-chemical processes, as little as politi- myself as subject in distinction to it. To begin with, then, the cal science can be reduced to physics and chemistry. word ‘I’ indicates a kind of void, an empty space. This void

37 is identical in all humans – as identical as only two voids can cannot separate our attention from our self. It is true that be. In this fact we discover the objective basis for the prin- we can direct our attention to anything imaginable, includ- ciple of equal rights, for equality before the law, regardless ing the characteristics and nature of the attention itself, but of any differences people possess. People have differences, but precisely because of this activity, we cannot be simultane- people are equal. ously detached from the attention. Our attention does have the capacity for self-reflection (it can be turned upon itself), However, the ‘I’ is not a ‘no-thing’. Like the ‘superposition’ but we cannot objectify our attention in the same way as we of quantum theory, the human ‘I’ is a void full of potential, do with our character traits. We can, for instance, focus our of expectancy and creative power; it is the emptiness of the attention on our laziness without being actually lazy at the moral will, before that moral will has yet brought forth a same time. But we cannot focus our attention on our atten- moral judgement. What lies dormant in the void is the as tion without being simultaneously attentive. Our laziness is yet undifferentiated capacity for involvement. The human ‘I’ something that we have; in a deep and fundamental sense, is nothing other than the manifestation of involvement in however, our attention is a manifestation of our very being. the world. And it is precisely involvement that distinguishes When we are attentive, then effectively we are this attention. freedom from licence. And attention is involvement.

Without involvement, I am as free as an astronaut who alone, In involvement/attachment, the paradoxical character of and with nothing to hold onto, tumbles slowly around his or morals is resolved. On the one hand, I am my involvement her centre of gravity in the weightlessness of space. The as- – involvement is hyperindividual and can only come from tronaut can perform voluntary movements, but cannot affect an individual human being. But, on the other hand, my in- the position of his or her centre of gravity relative to other volvement is always involvement with ‘the other’. Without objects, because all connection to the surrounding world has the other, my involvement cannot exist. In this sense, I owe been severed. If I do not get involved with other people, even my existence at every moment to that ‘other’. Involvement the most exalted deed will not touch me internally; it will or moral warmth can only exist between people. Real society leave me ‘disconnected’. Without commitment and involve- is not the state, or the sum of all of the social structures and ment, I am not free to change. Only by virtue of my involve- organisations. Real society is the fabric of connectedness and ment do I change myself through what I do. indifference, of moral warmth and coldness between people. It is not easy to capture the essence of involvement in a single As human beings, we are only free when we are connect- term, because there is nothing in the material world (from ed and involved. One can say that human involvement, or which we derive most concepts and terms) that has at the the moral warmth that the individual person can develop, same time the character of both object and relationship. is the way in which morality appears in the world. Moral- ity is nowhere to be found in the world outside individual From this consideration of the dual nature of morals and of involved human beings. And it is precisely through involve- involvement, the following three perspectives on democracy ment that humans can rediscover the real essence of their emerge. own being. As subject, we can separate ourselves not only from the outside world, but also from our own bodies, our • Anyone who focuses mainly on the suprapersonal aspect of habits and even our character (we can, for instance, try to morals, and disregards the individual aspect, will tend towards lose weight, or change our character, or suppress a rising fit a limited form of democracy in which people’s individual con- of anger). But, by definition, we cannot separate ourselves tribution is minimised. Benjamin Barber (1997) described as subject from our involvement (e.g. with another’s pain). these ‘communitarists’ as follows: “Because they assume that If we try to objectify our involvement, we cannot help – as people are embedded in a network of communities and have subject – taking our involvement with us. Basically, we can- ties with each other that take precedence over their individu- not look with complete detachment at our own feelings of ality and these conditions, communitarists do not see ‘civil affection for someone else. If we nonetheless try to do so, we society’ as a playground for individuals and their voluntary must first create a phantasm of our affection, by making an ties and contractual organisations, but rather as a complex abstraction of the essential fact that it is our affection we are mixture of inescapable social relationships that bind people dealing with. If we want to make a real image of the affec- together into families, clans, neighbourhoods, communities tion or involvement, including the fact that it is our affection, and hierarchies.” Morals are seen in this communitaristic we cannot help but be filled by it. We are then our affection. perspective as something that is decreed from above. People The same does not occur, if, for instance, we closely exam- choose a subsidiary form of state, with, at most, representative ine one of our habits (including the fact that it is our habit). forms of democracy and with the ruling elite having the maxi- Our involvement, or attachment, is something from which mum room for manoeuvre. This elite must then ‘educate’ the we cannot distance ourselves, but with which we are at one people. ‘Mid-field organisations’ (clubs, associations etc.) are in our deepest being. We have a body, habits, a character; we mainly considered as instruments by means of which the elite are our involvement. can subtly control, guide and ‘educate’ the people.

We can understand this more clearly if we consider the • Anyone who considers only the individual aspect of mor- most basic form of involvement – attention. Attention (pay- als will ignore the interaction between people or consider it ing attention to, showing interest in, empathising with) is as of little or no relevance. Barber (1997) characterises the the capacity of the human spirit to make space within ones ‘libertarian’ model as follows: “... the social relationships, own imagination for another person or object outside of both in the private sector and between the private and the oneself. By its very nature, attention aims at the truth. Atten- government sector, are contractual relationships entered tion is the precursor to thought. It provides space for both into by free individuals, in spite of their interests and goods sensory impressions and for individual thoughts and trains and in defence of their freedoms. (…) By concentrating on of thought. We relate to ‘the other’ in the first place by fo- the autonomous, solitary, egotist consumers, who have en- cusing our attention on it. Because of its very nature, we trenched themselves in a fortress of rights, [and] only ven-

38 ture out to get something done by a state that operates like satisfied, this need continues to determine motivation and a service station (...), the liberal ‘civil society’ model can only other needs scarcely come into play, if at all. Maslow distin- represent a rudimentary type of social relationships that re- guishes two types of needs: basic needs (so-called ‘deficiency main superficially instrumental. The concept of freedom needs’), which are satisfied from outside; and the need for in this model is therefore hyper-individualistic, negative fulfilment or self-actualization (‘meta-need’), which is met and oppositional. It cannot respond to the desire to create by inner activity. Of these, the basic needs come first. Only communities and solidarity that overcomes modern peo- when they have been largely satisfied will the need for self- ple in mobile, post-industrial societies.” From this so-called fulfilment become the main motivator. ‘libertarian’ position, one quickly comes up with ideas of ‘push-button’ direct democracy, televoting, etc. The per- Maslow makes a distinction between the following basic sonal opinions of the ‘atomised’ members of society flow needs: directly into the decision-making, without there being any process of the communal formation of shared perceptions. Physiological needs • Barber (1997) argues for ‘strong democracy’: “In the The need for food, light, etc.: “For the man who is extremely strong democratic view, citizens are seen a members of a and dangerously hungry, no other interests exist but food. ‘civil society’ because they are active, responsible, involved He dreams food, he remembers food, he thinks about food, members of groups and communities. (...) Citizens (...) he emotes about food, he perceives only food and he wants understand that democracy is precisely that type of state only food.” (Maslow, 1943a, p. 374) As long as these needs are in which not politicians and bureaucrats, but rather em- not met, they dominate human motivation, but once they are powered people use their legal powers to put flesh on the satisfied, different needs surface: “What happens to man’s bones of their freedom; within which freedom implies both desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is the obligations of social responsibility and citizenship, and chronically filled? At once other (and ‘higher’) needs emerge the rights of legal entities. In this type of state, rights and and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the or- responsibilities are two sides of a single citizens’ identity, ganism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and which belongs neither to the government bureaucrats nor still ‘higher’) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean the private consumers, but exclusively to the citizens.” by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative pre-potency”. (Maslow, 1943a, p. 375) If we include both poles of morality (the individual and the suprapersonal) as harmonious equals, we arrive at a demo- Safety needs cratic process of collective perception-formation, followed by individual decision-making. We see again here how radical The physiological needs relate to immediate necessities. direct democracy and radical federalism organically comple- Someone wracked by hunger and thirst is not really worried ment each other. The suprapersonal aspect of morals natu- about the future. They want to eat and drink now. But once rally works itself out between people. In a democratic soci- this immediate need for sustenance has been satisfied, con- ety, it cannot be imposed from above – neither by a king, a cern about future supplies will arise. Then a need arises for president or a cabal of party leaders. It appears in the dis- guaranteed food supplies, for a permanent roof over their cussions and the interactions of people who do not confront head, for protection from the cold and against dangers. We each other as atomised individuals, but who, forming bonds want to survive and we need safety and security to do so. with each other, have organised themselves federatively into The physiological needs are linked to the immediate situa- a social network. In a strong democracy, people listen to each tion; the need for security relates to our continuing future. It other, there is social debate, and people modify each other’s includes a need for order and a certain routine, and for the opinions. But the final decision, the moment of voting, is a absence of unforeseen threats. According to Maslow (1943a), personal matter – because, ultimately, one has to vote out of children especially have a strong need for a regular pattern of one’s best insights and conscience, for only individuals have life, in which they feel safe and secure. an intellect and a conscience. This is where the individual pole of morals and involvement is found. Only direct democ- Belongingness and love (social) needs racy properly allows for this kind of individual judgement. And since in a federative society that individual judgement “If both the physiological and the safety needs are fairly well (in the vote) is preceded by the shared perception-forming gratified, then there will emerge the love and affection and es- process, the individual decision is able to transcend the limi- teem needs (...) the person will feel keenly, as never before, the tations and one-sidedness of the isolated individual. absence of friends, or a sweetheart, or a wife, or children. He will hunger for affectionate relations with people in general, namely, for a place in his group, and he will strive with great intensity to Maslow: a phenomenological theory achieve this goal.”(Maslow, 1943a, p. 381). An important point, of motivation according to Maslow, is that this concerns both receiving and giving affection. At the level of direct consciousness, where our It remains for us still to examine whether in the course of emotional life is to be found, the experience of indifference the democratic decision-making process, people actually do plays the same role as does hunger at the level of the physiologi- take into account the interests of the community. What mo- cal body. It is worth noting that Maslow does not consider sexual tives drive people in their actions, including their political desires as basic needs: physiological and belongingness needs decision-making? In forming a picture of this, we will make can operate to varying degrees as motives here. use of the influential theory of motivation propounded by Abraham Maslow (Maslow, 1943a). Esteem needs (recognition by others and self-esteem) According to Maslow, there is a hierarchy of human needs These needs are naturally closely connected with the previ- and desires. As long as a more primary need remains un- ous needs, but are distinguished by the desire for continuity.

39 People need food, but also the longer-term assurance of a of ‘the other’. The meta-need is a need for meaningfulness. food supply (safety needs). People also have a need for direct The question of whether existence has meaning cannot be and immediate affection (belongingness and love) and for a answered with either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ at a purely rational-intel- wider social belongingness that assures them of being able lectual level. Meaningfulness arises in the existential service to maintain relationships with others into the future as well. of ‘the other’, where that service is perceived as a supremely personal affair. A politician, an artist, a carpenter or a shop The need to know and to understand assistant who is driven by the need for self-actualization will always rediscover this idea of service to another at the heart Maslow states, “The desire to know and to understand (...) are of what drives him or her. This drive to serve is part of human as much personality needs as the ‘basic needs’ we have already nature, and a person creates meaning for his or her existence discussed.” (Maslow, 1943a, p. 385) One often sees that the in the measure in which this urge is turned into deeds. attempts to satisfy this need are pursued despite enormous costs and risks. However, Maslow remains unclear about the Gratification exact place this need occupies relative to the other needs. He frequently omits the need for knowledge and understanding In people who have been able to develop in a healthy and when summarising the hierarchy of needs. In his 1943 arti- harmonious way, there develops a kind of state of gratifica- cle, he discusses the need for knowledge and understanding tion in relation to the basic needs. “What this means is that, extensively and stresses that it is a basic need. However, he e.g., a basically satisfied person no longer has the needs for remains uncertain about the position this need occupies in the esteem, love, safety , etc. (...) If we are interested in what ac- hierarchy of needs. In my opinion, the ‘need to understand’ tually motivates us, and not in what has, will, or might mo- must be seen logically as a fifth basic need. The need to know tivate us, then a satisfied need is not a motivator. It must be and to understand will only emerge with full force when the considered for all practical purposes simply not to exist, to needs for affection and social connectedness are at least par- have disappeared. This point should be emphasized because tially satisfied. Any knowledge will be perceived as hollow it has been either overlooked or contradicted in every theory and irrelevant if it is not acquired against the background of of motivation I know. The perfectly healthy, normal, fortu- a worthwhile emotional and social life. But the need to know nate man has no sex needs or hunger needs, or needs for and understand must still be considered as a basic need, in the safety, or for love, or for prestige, or self-esteem, except in sense that people must turn to the outside world to satisfy this stray moments of quickly passing threat (...) a healthy man is need (whereas the need for self-fulfilment is satisfied by inner primarily motivated by his needs to develop and actualize his activity – see below). One could also say that a certain degree fullest potentialities and capacities. If a man has any other of knowledge and understanding must be acquired before self- basic needs in any active, chronic sense, then he is simply an actualization can take place. To that extent, therefore, the need unhealthy man.” (Maslow, 1943a, p. 393-394) for knowledge and understanding stands at a more fundamental level in the hierarchy than the need for self-actualization. The gratification of a basic need must therefore be distinguished from the response to a need that occasionally arises. Everyone will normally eat every day, for instance, but as The meta-need: the need for self-actualization long as food supplies are not a problem, hunger will not be a final motive. In a situation where the need for food and One of Maslow’s central propositions states: every talent is drink is constantly satisfied, then one can say that these ba- also a need, and it is actually a need for fulfilment of that talent. sic needs are gratified. The needs do not arise as motivators, A person who develops normally does not stop at the higher even though they must be satisfied from time to time. One basic needs, such as the need for social recognition and the can also say that the basic needs only continue to play a role acquisition of knowledge. When these needs have been ade- as derived motivations. Of course, there will still be striving quately satisfied, a new need immediately appears: the desire for security or acquisition of knowledge, but in essence this to validate ones own aptitudes and talents. This new need is occurs against the background of, or relative to, the need to fundamentally different from the previous five, in the sense fulfil ones potential as an involved being – a need which is that it cannot be satisfied from the outside world, but only by perceived as deeper and of greater importance. the person’s own inner initiative. That is why Maslow talks of a ‘meta-need’ in this context. According to Maslow, several needs are already gratified in the very early years of life. Maslow was impressed by the fact The dividing line between this meta-need and the basic needs, that, as adults, certain people appeared to be mainly moti- which have to be satisfied by elements from the outside world, vated by the desire for self-actualization, even if this was ac- coincides with the dividing line between intrinsic and external companied by serious deficits in the area of the basic needs. motivation [see 3-1 and 3-2]. At the moment that the meta-need This seems to be an exception to the hierarchical order in becomes the main motivating force, people manifest them- which the needs act as motivators: “Perhaps more important selves as involved beings. The relationship to the outside world than all these exceptions are the ones that involve ideals, high is, as it were, turned inside out. As long as the basic needs oper- social standards, high values and the like. With such values ate as motivators, the outside world exists as a means of satisfy- people become martyrs; they will give up everything for the ing those needs. When the meta-need becomes the main mo- sake of a particular ideal, or value. These people may be un- tivating force, people themselves become a means of meeting derstood, at least in part, by reference to one basic concept (or the needs of the outside world. Whereas the basic needs arise hypothesis), which may be called ‘increased frustration-toler- from what the ‘I’ has (a body and emotions), the meta-need ance through early gratification’. People who have been satis- arises from the connectedness that manifests itself in the ‘I’. fied in their earlier years seem to develop exceptional power to withstand present or future thwarting of these needs sim- The need for self-actualization, therefore, must not be seen ply because they have a strong, healthy character structure as hedonistic. It is not about ego-tripping, but rather about as a result of basic satisfaction. They are the ‘strong’ people a need for meaning, which can only be found in the service who can easily weather disagreement or opposition, who can

40 swim against the stream of public opinion and who can stand their own tastes, goals, and personal autonomy so long as up for the truth at great personal cost. It is just the ones who no one else is hurt thereby. Furthermore, he tends to like have loved and been well loved, and who have had many deep them rather than dislike them and to assume that probably friendships who can hold out against hatred, rejection or they are, if given the chance, essentially good rather than persecution. (...) It seems probable that the most important bad individuals.” (Maslow 1943b, 1973, p.142) gratifications come in the first two years of life. That is to say, people who have been made secure and strong in the earliest • The authoritarian personality shows the tendency to gen- years, tend to remain secure and strong thereafter in the face eralise ‘superiority’ and ‘inferiority’. Stronger people are of whatever threatens.” (Maslow, 1943a, p. 388) considered superior in all domains. In its most caricatured form, we recognise this in the personality cults surround- In the self-actualizing person, therefore, a sort of inversion of ing dictators like Mao or Kim il Sung. Propaganda slowly the Maslow pyramid appears: in the series of needs and mo- converts such characters into capable leaders or outstand- tivations, those that manifest themselves last now become ing writers, artists, scientists and sportsmen [or women]. primary. What was initially the top of the pyramid becomes This type of personality cult takes advantage of the ten- the new base. In this respect also, therefore, there is a ‘turn- dency for authoritarian-minded people to generalise. The ing inside out’ in the transition from the basic need to the democratic-minded individual does not show this tendency meta-needs [see 4 - 1]. to generalisation, but sees superiority or inferiority only in specific, functional domains and in relation to the capacity An important element of Maslow’s theory of motivation is the for tackling tasks efficiently. proposition that the basic needs can indeed be fully gratified. These needs are not inexhaustible. The logical conclusion is • The authoritarian personality shows a strong craving for that the approach to the basic needs has to be from a ‘nega- power (power is essential to survival in a jungle). The dem- tive’ direction, since what we are essentially talking about is ocratic personality seeks strength rather than power. the removal of deficiencies and annoyances – not the fulfilment of the unlimited cravings of ‘homo economicus’. Once • The authoritarian personality shows a strong tendency to these deficiencies are removed, the inversion occurs and the see others “... as tools, as means to his end, as pawns on meta-needs then become the driving force of our actions. his chessboard, as objects to be exploited.” (Maslow, 1943b, 1973, p.145) Here we find another reason why an authori- The authoritarian character according to Maslow tarian person will usually be opposed to direct democracy. According to Maslow, the key to the authoritarian personality An important element, which Maslow also addresses, is the can be found in a specific view of mankind and the world: tendency of authoritarian people to reinterpret in an authori- “Like other psychologically insecure people, the authoritarian tarian sense attitudes and beliefs which are diametrically op- person lives in a world which may be conceived to be pictured posed to the philosophy of the jungle. Maslow gives as an by him as a sort of jungle in which man’s hand is necessarily example: “... the Christian ideal [that] has been corrupted against every other man’s, in which the whole world is con- and perverted into its very opposite by various churches and ceived of as dangerous, threatening, or at least challenging, other organized groups.” (Maslow 1943b, 1973, p. 147) and in which human beings are conceived of as primarily selfish, or evil and stupid. To carry the analogy further, this jungle is peopled with animals who either eat or are eaten, who are Inner motivation and democratic disposition either to be feared or despised. Ones safety lies in ones own strength and this strength consists primarily in the power to Maslow’s ‘self-actualizing’ person is one whose daily activi- dominate. If one is not strong enough the only alternative is ties and feelings about life are not dominated by basic needs to find a strong protector. If this protector is strong enough that have remained ungratified. Self-actualizing people act and can be relied upon, then peace of a certain sort is possible out of very strong, personalised inner motives: “Just as the to the individual (...) Once granted this world-view, everything tree needs sunshine, and water, and food, so do most peo- that the authoritarian person does is logical and sensible. (...) ple need love, safety, and the other basic need gratifications If the world is actually jungle-like for an individual, and if hu- which can come only from without. But once these external man beings have behaved to him as wild animals behave, then satisfiers are obtained, once these inner deficiencies are sati- the authoritarian is perfectly justified in all his suspicions, hos- ated by outside satisfiers, the true problem of individual hu- tilities, and anxieties. If the world is not a jungle, if people are man development begins, i.e., self-actualization.” (Maslow not completely cruel, selfish, and egocentric, then, and only 1950, 1973, p.188) then is the authoritarian wrong.” (Maslow, 1943b, 1973, p. 141) However, Maslow states that only a small number of people One of the most surprising characteristics that Maslow em- (in particular, pronounced psychopaths) match the image of phasizes with this type of person is their ‘democratic charac- the human being portrayed by the authoritarian personality. ter structure’: “All my subjects without exception may be said to be democratic people in the deepest possible sense. (...) Maslow includes the following in his characterisation of the These people have all the obvious or superficial democratic differences between the ‘authoritarian personality’ and the characteristics. They can be, and are, friendly with anyone ‘democratic personality’: of suitable character, regardless of class, education, political • The authoritarian personality shows a preference for hier- belief, race, or colour. As a matter of fact, it often seems as archy. “People are ranked on a vertical scale as if they were if they are not even aware of these differences, which are for on a ladder, and they are divided into those above and those the average person so obvious and so important. They have below the subject on this ladder. The democratic person in not only this most obvious quality, but their democratic feel- contrast tends (in the pure case) to respect other human ing goes deeper as well. For instance, they find it possible beings in a very basic fashion as different from each other, to learn from anybody who has something to teach them rather than better or worse. He is more willing to allow for – no matter what other characteristics he may have. In such

41 a learning relationship, they do not try to maintain any out- what it is that distinguishes us from animals or plants. Hap- ward ‘dignity’ or to maintain status or age prestige and the piness is to be found in those acts which are in harmony with like. It should even be said that my subjects share a quality the true nature of the human being and which therefore need that could be called ‘humility’ of a certain type. They are all no further justification. And because humans are in essence quite aware of their own worth, so that there is no humble- social and moral beings, Aristotle arrives at the definition of ness of the cringing or of the designing and calculating type. happiness as “…a certain activity of the soul in harmony with They are equally aware of how little they know in compari- virtue.” In a deeper sense, virtuous acts – which are always son with what could be known and what is known by others. ultimately one or other form of readiness to help others – are Because of this it is possible for them without pose to be gratifying in themselves. Our real connectedness to and in- honestly respectful, and even humble, before people who can volvement with ‘the other’ is our happiness. Aristotle’s view teach them something that they do not know, or who have a accords with Maslow’s theory of meta-needs: the happiness skill they do not possess. (...) These individuals, themselves of the fulfilled (in Maslow’s terms: ‘gratified’) human con- elite, select for their friends elite, but this is an elite of char- sists in the readiness to help (Aristotle’s ‘virtue’). acter, capacity, and talent, rather than of birth, race, blood, name, family, age, youth, fame, or power. Most profound, but However, Aristotle also knew that many people hold other also most vague, is the hard-to-get-at tendency to give a cer- views, and that the same person can hold different views in tain quantum of respect to any human being just because he different situations. Aristotle was perfectly aware of the im- is a human individual...” (Maslow 1950, 1973, p. 193-194) portance of what Maslow calls the ‘basic needs’: “Yet (…) [happiness] needs the external goods as well; for it is impossible, Maslow considers the ‘self-actualizing person’, therefore, as or not easy, to do noble acts without the proper equipment. In an essentially democratic being. By contrast, the authoritar- many actions we use friends and riches and political power as ian disposition is an attitude that springs from the lack of instruments; and there are some things the lack of which takes gratification of the basic needs. the lustre from happiness, such as good birth, goodly children, beauty; for the man who is very ugly in appearance or ill-born Maslow’s characterisation of democratic and authoritarian or solitary and childless is not very likely to be happy, and personalities corresponds with Putnam’s distinction between perhaps a man would be still less likely if he had thoroughly ‘civicness’ and ‘amoral familialism’. bad children or friends or had lost good children or friends by death. (…) then, happiness seems to need this sort of prosper- It is noteworthy that people and societies of both types seem ity in addition; for which reason some identify happiness with to perpetuate and reinforce themselves. Democracy and civic good fortune, though others identify it with virtue.” sense generate more democracy and civic sense. On the other hand, according to Maslow, authoritarian personalities will Aristotle’s concept can be reformulated in Maslow’s termi- cause society to become less democratic. They transform soci- nology as follows: as long as the basic needs are not gratified, ety into the image of the social jungle in which they believe – the pleasure that ensues from satisfying these basic needs in which the strong take unrestrained advantage of the weak. can be experienced as a substitute for the real happiness which results from the gratification of the meta-needs, i.e. Aristotle on happiness from the striving for connectedness. Neither democracy nor economic activity are goals in them- Aristotle did not believe that happiness ensues from satisfy- selves. They are only important to the extent that they serve ing the basic needs. Adequate satisfaction of the basic needs human happiness and human welfare. Good politics does is an essential but not sufficient prerequisite for happiness. not have to make people happy, but politics does have the People also have the meta-need to behave virtuously and to duty to remove social barriers to the creation of happiness. strive for ‘the good’. This means that at a general societal But what is happiness? level they need democracy, because people must be able to strive for ‘what is beautiful in themselves’ in this area of life Aristotle gave one of the oldest definitions in his Ethica Ni- too (see 4-2). Frank (1997) is quite correct in observing that comachea. The Ethica Nicomachea is his maturest work in the the majority of people would rather be a dissatisfied Socra- area of ethics, and its very first book is devoted to the question tes than a fully satiated pig. The pig does not know happi- of happiness. Aristotle begins with the straightforward obser- ness because it cannot strive for ‘the good’; but it certainly vation that human beings perform a very wide range of differ- knows the pleasure of satiation. In 1954, Olds and Milner ent actions, with very diverse goals. A medical treatment is, discovered that the stimulation of certain parts of the cer- for example, aimed at healing; the saddler’s work is intended ebral cortex of rats seemed to cause an intense feeling of to manufacture a saddle etc. But the immediate aims are, in pleasure in these rodents. The rats lost their interest in eve- their turn, subordinate to other, wider or higher objectives. rything else if they were enabled to create this stimulation The saddler makes the saddle for the same higher reason as for themselves. Ng (1997) suggests that we could make a the horse-breeder rears a horse: specifically, to make [horse] substantial leap forwards in realising ‘happiness for all’ by riding possible. But why do people strive to ride horses? Aris- providing people with the technical possibility for such con- totle asked himself: is there not some highest, ultimate goal tinuous cerebral cortex stimulation. Such mass production behind all these intermediate aims? Is there something that of ‘happiness’ would be inexpensive and very environmen- we strive for because it is simply good in itself? For Aristotle, tally friendly. There’s only one problem: human happiness the ultimate goal was happiness. Money and riches, for exam- has very much less to do with such guaranteed pleasure than ple, are not desired for their own sake, but because they are much advertising would often have us believe. Happiness is believed to bring happiness. Happiness, on the other hand, is not the same thing as pleasure. Being happy means: being a goal that needs no further explanation. able to be creative and helpful. Frank’s and Ng’s questions clearly show that Aristotle is correct in his concept of happi- In what does this happiness consist? In order to discover this ness, regardless of how idealistic and utopian his assertion Aristotle goes in search of what it is that makes us human; may appear at first sight.

42 Perhaps there are two reasons why Aristotle’s ideas about be less happy. On average, women are happier than men, happiness (of which more below) were not generally shared. married people are happier than unmarried people, people On the one hand, failure to satisfy the basic needs leads to who believe in God are a bit happier than disbelievers, peo- fixation on the gratification of those needs, which means that ple who watch television a lot are on average unhappier than the ‘inversion’ towards the gratification of the meta-needs occasional viewers, and inhabitants of richer countries are does not take place. Striving for pleasure then becomes a usually happier than inhabitants of poorer countries. surrogate for the striving for happiness. On the other hand, there is also the reality of evil. Maslow speaks of the ‘Jonas Unemployment induces a very considerable loss of happi- complex’: the wilful clinging to the basic needs and the con- ness. On a scale from 1 (not at all satisfied) to 4 (very satis- scious waiving of the meta-needs as motivators for our ac- fied), unemployment causes an average drop of about 0.33 tions. That seemed to him to be the key to the evil behaviour [units]. This is the decline in the feeling of happiness due of humans. Aristotle also knew about evil: “…there is found solely to unemployment i.e. after adjustments have been [in men] another element naturally opposed to the rational made for other factors, such as loss of income (Frey and principle, which fights against and resists that principle. For Stutzer, 2002, p. 97). We can understand this effect in the exactly as paralysed limbs, when we intend to move them to light of the theories of Maslow and Aristotle. Work is an im- the right, turn on the contrary to the left, so is it with the soul; portant opportunity for self-actualization for many people. the impulses of incontinent people move in contrary direc- It offers the opportunity, in the Aristotelian sense, to prac- tions. But while in the body we see that which moves astray, tice virtuous behaviour. This is confirmed by other studies, in the soul we do not. No doubt, however, we must nonethe- which indicate that people who are self-employed feel hap- less suppose that in the soul too there is something contrary pier than people who work for an employer and who con- to the rational principle, resisting and opposing it.” sequently have less control over the circumstances of their work. It is not only a person’s own unemployment, but also The reality of evil demands courage from politicians. The that of other people that affects the feeling of happiness: expression ‘political courage’ usually suggests a situation in “...a one-percentage-point increase in the general rate of which ‘unpopular measures’ have to be implemented against unemployment from 9 percent (the European mean) to 10 the will of the people. This is not courage, but the undem- percent reduces the declared level of satisfaction with life ocratic abuse of power. It is not courage, but cowardice, to by 0.028 units on the four-point scale applied.” (Frey and avoid a confrontation with an idea that you consider wrong. Stutzer, 2002, p.101). Such ideas can only be defeated in an open democratic debate, in a contest of ideas. Those who avoid the contest, and Do citizens feel happier on average when they have the op- instead seek to ensure victory by a show of force, only suc- portunity to decide on issues directly by referendum? A com- ceed in the long run in strengthening the malevolent forces parative study of the 26 Swiss cantons, which offer signifi- in society. A political culture, in which the use of power by cantly different levels of opportunity for citizens to participate one person over another is accepted, is the natural biotope directly in legislation, provides an answer to this question. for evil. Real political courage does not consist in dealing Frey and Stutzer reduced the extent to which direct decision- with ideas thought to be wrong or harmful by using power, making is possible to a single parameter, the values of which but rather by conducting open contests of ideas. People who can vary from 1 (not democratic) to 6 (very democratic). The have real political courage learn to recognise evil, but do not canton of Basel-Landschaft (the predominantly rural area allow themselves to be frightened off by it. Opposing evil, po- around the city of Basle) had the highest score (5.69) and the litical courage strives for a society in which the human desire canton of Geneva the lowest (1.75). As well as using all sorts for strong democracy and real involvement are satisfied. of other factors that reflect the demographic and economic differences between the cantons, Frey and Stutzer also applied another scale with ten gradations, which mark the de- Democracy and happiness gree of municipal autonomy in each canton.

Happiness has also been studied quantitatively. Frey and The results show that citizens in the more democratic can- Stutzer (2002) provide a good overview of the most signifi- tons are significantly happier on average. An increase of a cant findings. single point on the 1 to 6 scale corresponds to an increase in the feeling of happiness by 0.11 units, which matches the Happiness can be measured, of course, in the sense that you effect of a transition from the lowest income category (below can just ask people how happy they are. Asking people to rate 2000 Swiss francs a month) to the next higher income cat- their general feeling of happiness on a scale from ‘entirely un- egory (from 2000 to 3000 Swiss francs a month). happy’ to ‘perfectly happy’ produces consistent and very useful results. People who consider themselves more than averagely More municipal autonomy also leads to an increase in re- happy are also rated by other people as happier. They smile ported happiness. However, Frey and Stutzer found that the more, are healthier, have fewer days off work, make social con- two parameters are not independent of each other: it appears tacts more easily, etc. (Frey and Stutzer, 2002, p. 33). There are that in cantons with more direct democracy, greater munici- many different factors that have an effect on happiness. pal autonomy also seems to have arisen over time. This corresponds with the overall finding that politicians generally Absolute wealth does not affect happiness, once a certain tend to aim for less local autonomy and more centralisation, minimum has been achieved that allows the primary needs whereas citizens usually desire more local autonomy. to be satisfied. In Japan, for example, real per capita income increased sixfold during the second half of the twentieth cen- The increase in the feeling of happiness has a general char- tury, but this did not cause any increase in Japanese people’s acter: “The positive effect of direct democracy on happiness average sense of happiness. Relative wealth, on the other applies to all income classes, and is not restricted to a par- hand, does have an effect on the feeling of happiness. Peo- ticular one (...) The benefits are distributed rather evenly ple who are poorer than their neighbours will, on average, among social classes.” (Frey and Stutzer, p. 145, 149).

43 The availability of the citizens’ initiative referendum can lead participate in the decision-making. The fact that the deci- to more happiness in two ways. On the one hand, direct decisions reached are more in line with the citizens’ wishes pro- sion-making can lead to measures and laws that better reduces a real benefit, but it is not as great as the procedural flect the citizens’ wishes (‘outcome utility’). And on the other utility: “...two-thirds of the positive effect of more extended hand, the opportunity to participate can itself be a source of direct-democratic participation rights is due to procedural happiness. In this latter case, the benefit is known as ‘pro- utility. (…) The positive effect of participation rights is three cedural utility’ (benefit resulting from the decision-making times larger for citizens than it is for the foreigners – that is, procedure itself). It was possible to measure the effects of a major part of the welfare gain from the favourable political the two components separately by examining the happiness process is due to procedural utility.” (Frey and Stutzer, 2002, scores of foreigners who live in the various cantons. Until p.161-162, 167) they have acquired Swiss citizenship, these people cannot vote in referendums and therefore do not benefit from ‘pro- It should come as no surprise that democracy in itself works cedural utility’; but they do have to live with the effects of a as a promoter of happiness. This is to be expected in the more or a less efficient administration. The research showed light of Maslow’s theory. After all, people do not live by bread that the non-Swiss citizens also reported a greater degree of alone. They also have the meta-need to take their common happiness in the more democratic cantons, but the increase fate into their own hands in solidarity with their fellow hu- was less marked than with the Swiss citizens. The compari- mans and be able to play their part in the shaping of soci- son of the effects in both Swiss and non-Swiss citizens leads ety as individual moral beings. In Aristotelian terms: people to the conclusion that the largest proportion of the increase need democracy so that they can strive to behave virtuously in happiness results from the simple fact of being able to at a social level as well, and in this way find happiness.

4-1: Not by bread alone in forging human relationships with people outside their own circles (‘extensive relationships’). “What distinguished How the Maslowian need for self-actualization can guide rescuers was not their lack of concern with self, external behaviour is illustrated by the following anecdote (pub- approval, or achievement, but rather their capacity for ex- lished in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Southern tensive relationships – their stronger sense of attachment Germany on 22 January 1997; see Schuster et al, 1997, p. to others and their feeling of responsibility for the welfare 581): “Manuel Lubian, a Mexican taxi driver, has returned of others, including those outside their immediate familial the equivalent of some 44,000 Euros that a passenger had or communal circles.” (p. 243) left in his cab. Lubian spent two days hunting through the hotels in the Mexican capital in order to find the owner of The Oliners’ survey led them to conclude that this ‘extensive the bag containing cash, jewels and important papers. He personality’ blossomed in a specific family environment, refused the reward that the owner – a Bolivian senator – which they characterise as follows: “Parental discipline wanted to give him: “I thought that if I accepted the reward tends towards leniency; children frequently experience it as I would lose what is beautiful in myself.” almost imperceptible. It includes a heavy dose of reasoning – explanations of why behaviours are inappropriate, of- Kohn (1990) quotes two examples of life-saving interven- ten with reference to the consequences for others. Physical tions by people who were not directly involved. A man who punishment is rare; when used, it tends to be a singular jumped onto the track in the New York subway to rescue a event rather than routine. Gratuitous punishment – pun- child from an approaching train told a reporter: “I would ishment that serves as a cathartic release of aggression for have died inside if I had not acted immediately. I would the parent or is unrelated to the child’s behaviour – almost have considered myself worthless from then on.” In anoth- never occurs. Simultaneously, however, parents set high er case, a man who dived into the Potomac River to rescue standards they expect their children to meet, particularly a driver from a sinking car said: “I just couldn’t watch the with regard to caring for others. They implicitly or explicitly guy drown. I think I jumped into the water out of self-de- communicate the obligation to help others in a spirit of gen- fence. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if he erosity, without concern for external rewards or reciprocity. had drowned and I had done nothing.” (p. 243) Parents themselves model such behaviours, not only in relation to their children but also toward other family members These explanations point to a sometimes intensely experi- and neighbours. Because they are expected to care for and enced need to respond to an inner call to help another per- about others while simultaneously being cared for, children son. The extraordinary significance of Maslow’s meta-need are encouraged to develop qualities associated with caring. was already pointed to in the New Testament: “Man shall not Dependability, responsibility, and self-reliance are valued live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from because they facilitate taking care of oneself as well as oth- the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). People really live from ers. Failures are regarded as learning experiences, with the responding to this call and ‘die inside’ if they ignore it. presumption of eventual mastery, rather than inherent deficiencies of character, intellect, or skill. Out of such benevo- Oliner and Oliner (1988) interviewed 406 people (‘rescu- lent experiences, children learn to trust those around them. ers’) who assisted Jews in going into hiding during the Nazi Securely rooted in their family relationships, they risk form- occupation in the Second World War, as well as a control ing intimate relationships outside it.”] (p. 249-250) group of 126 people who were not involved in such activities. In the majority of cases, the period of hiding lasted The background of the opposite type (the ‘restrictive’ per- for several years. The Oliners’ study revealed that the rescu- sonality) is, according to the Oliners, usually characterised ers showed one special characteristic: they had no difficulty by weak family relationships, much more corporal punish-

44 ment (often indiscriminate), family values that rely heavily sewers were laid per year, this figure rose to an average on conventions, and few relationships with outsiders, who of 46 kilometres a year during the period from 1989 to are often judged in stereotypes. 1996. In the three years prior to the introduction, around 4 kilometres of roads were built per year. This became 20 Although there was no question of a deterministic link, the kilometres a year afterwards and, moreover, the roads built division into ‘extensive’ and ‘restrictive’ personalities pro- then were of much higher quality. According to Abers, the duced a 70% certainty of accurately identifying whether or participation process leads to a ‘culture of asking questions’. not a particular person had acted as a rescuer during the Participants at the budgeting meetings put questions about persecution of the Jews. Using Maslow’s terminology, one facts and figures, statements and decisions to the officials. could say: lack of gratification of the basic needs in the early The latter have to provide answers and are usually able to years produces authoritarian personality traits, which lead do so, but the constant possibility of having to account for to behaviour that produces the same traits again in the next their decisions publicly persuaded the administration to generation. We find again here the contrast described by adopt measures that they could really justify. Transparency Putnam between ‘civicness’ and ‘amoral familialism’. Both and accountability in the public domain improved consid- civicness and amoral familialism have the tendency to per- erably. It was no longer possible for money to just disap- petuate themselves from generation to generation. Wheth- pear, contracts were no longer overpriced, and promises er ‘what is beautiful in myself’ (Manuel Lubian) will come were no longer forgotten. Before the introduction of the to expression depends largely on the social capital in the ‘Orçamento participativo’ there were close links between society in which one grew up. the construction companies and the local politicians: lucra- tive contracts were granted in exchange for support in the election campaigns. When the ‘Partido dos Trabalhadores’ 4-2: Direct democracy, welfare and social (PT, Labour Party) first came to power, the building com- capital panies boycotted the public administration: they formed a cartel and refused to submit quotations for public work. One of the few countries in which the effects of direct de- Later, the cartel fell apart and the companies discovered mocracy on social capital can be directly studied is Swit- that they no longer needed to pay bribes to get a contract. zerland. The extent and form of direct democracy differ – One extraordinarily interesting phenomenon was the rise sometimes markedly – from canton to canton. Some of the in income the city began to enjoy from 1992 onwards, due 26 cantons have a well-defined system of direct democracy, to the decrease in tax evasion. People were much readier to while others have a type of administration that is much pay their taxes. Abers saw two reasons for this: on the one closer to the purely representative system, with far fewer hand, the taxpayers saw that their money was being spent opportunities for participation. efficiently and on things which were really necessary; and, on the other, the more the popularity of the PT increased, Frey (1997b) looked at a number of cantons to see whether the more hardened evaders lost hope that a different ad- there was a connection between the system of democracy ministration would come to power that would grant them and the citizens’ attitude to tax. In cantons where the citi- a tax amnesty. zens have extensive rights of participation in decision-making, the annual undeclared income per taxpayer was 1,600 Swiss francs (around 1,000 Euros) lower than the average 4-3: Naive cynicism for the 26 cantons; in cantons with less direct democracy, the undeclared income was actually 1,500 Swiss francs (about Naive cynicism is an important term for direct democracy. 900 Euros) higher than the overall average. The difference The naive cynic believes that other people attempt to take in undeclared income between the two types of cantons thus as much credit for themselves as possible and shift the re- amounted to around 1,900 Euros a year per taxpayer. At a sponsibility for negative matters onto others as much as marginal tax rate of 30 to 35 percent, the figures meant an possible. average difference in tax paid of some 625 Euros per taxpayer. In the UK, which has 35 million income tax payers, Indeed, research shows that people do not have a very clear this would work out at some 21.9 billion Euros per year. perception of their contribution to the production of positive or negative achievements. There is a classic study by Ross Frey investigated whether other factors, such as the level of and Sicoly (1979) on the attribution of responsibility by mar- fines or differences in average wealth between the cantons, ried couples. You could, for example, ask both partners what could explain the effect. This appeared not to be the case. is their share of the task of walking the dog. The husband There is a high probability that the differences in the levels and wife might answer 70% and 50% respectively. The an- of tax evasion can be accounted for by the fact that taxpay- swers are incompatible, because the sum of the real percent- ers in cantons with a strong direct-democratic tradition are ages must of course be 100%. Almost always, however, the able to develop a stronger feeling of social solidarity and a sum of the two answers proves to be more than 100%. greater sense of responsibility towards the administration. One could imagine that this is because both partners want The Swiss observations are confirmed by the findings of to exaggerate their merits, but this is not correct. The sum Abers (2000) in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, where in of the estimated contributions for negative actions also usu- 1989 a direct-democratic system was introduced, in which ally appears to exceed 100%. A more probable explanation the inhabitants themselves prepare the annual budget (see is that people remember their own performance better than inset 2-1). The introduction of the participation process led the performances of others. Their own contribution – posi- immediately to a spectacular increase in efficiency. Where- tive or negative – seems relatively larger as a proportion of as in the preceding years a maximum of 17 kilometres of what was achieved in total.

45 Another question is: how do people interpret this phenom- Kruger and Gilovich conducted this research not only with enon? The danger lurking here is that one interprets the oth- couples, but also in a range of other situations. The result was er person’s inclination to overestimate his or her own posi- the same each time, but one important difference emerged. tive contribution as an inclination to unfairly take the credit In situations where people cooperate actively on the same themselves. This interpretation is called ‘naive cynicism’. goal, they not only appear not to overestimate their own merits, but also do not expect overestimates by other people. The study of phenomena such as naive cynicism is very im- In competitive situations, on the other hand, a strong bias portant for direct democracy, because opponents of radical emerges: the inclination is very strong to suspect self-over- democracy generally refer to the alleged self-centred behav- estimation by someone with whom one is in a competitive iour of most people as a justification for refusing the right relationship. Both situations can also occur in combination. of self-determination. A series of new studies (discussed by Kruger and Gilovich studied, for example, ‘vogelpik’ players Kruger and Gilovich, 1999) identifies this phenomenon of who played in teams of two against two (‘vogelpik’ is a form naive cynicism more clearly. of darts). It appeared that the players who were in the same team not only showed no tendency to overestimate or un- An initial study examined the assignment of positive and derestimate their own merits and shortcomings respectively; negative activities by married couples. Both partners were they also accurately predicted the estimates by their co-play- allowed to estimate their own contribution and the contri- ers, thus not suspecting them of selfish claims. The players bution of their partner for ten activities – five positive and from the opposing team, on the other hand, were suspected five negative. Positive activities were, for instance, ‘energy of overestimating their own merits by an average of 24.8%. saving at home, e.g. by turning off unnecessary lights’ or ‘ resolving conflicts between the two of you’. On the other These kinds of research results are important for the issue hand, ‘breaking household goods’ or ‘causing an argument of direct democracy in two ways. between the two of you’ were typical negative activities. First, they once more illustrate that most people show an Both partners were then also allowed to predict what the inclination to attribute lower moral standards to other peo- other partner would state as his or her own contribution. ple than to themselves. There is therefore an undeserved The result – in line with previous research – was that their mutual mistrust, which opponents of direct democracy rely own contributions were systematically overestimated. For on to defend the current patronising system. the positive activities, the overestimate amounted to an average of 5.2% and for the negative activities 3.8%. But, secondly, this research also shows that the mutual mistrust is overcome by shared activities. On this point, then, a More important, however, is how each partner predicts the logical bridge appears between the research by Kruger and other’s estimates. The partners predict of each other that Gilovich and Frey’s research on the impact of direct democ- they will exaggerate their own positive contribution and racy on tax fraud, mentioned in inset 4-2. Active democracy play down their negative contribution. On average, the esti- boils down to a shared activity of the citizens in shaping mate of the level of exaggeration for positive contributions society. This activity enables citizens to observe each other was 9.7% higher than the actual level, and for negative con- more closely and better assess each other, and the mutual tributions 16.1% lower than the actual. mistrust ebbs away. The rather undemocratic and competi- tively oriented society that we currently know, on the other People do not themselves behave selfishly, therefore, but hand, is a breeding ground for mutual mistrust. they do have an ideological picture of the other as a selfish being (see also the research on this by Miller and Ratner, 1998, which is discussed in chapter 3). Also interesting in this context is recent research referred to by the authors, from which it appears that in couples who are happier with their relationship, partners tend to rate each other as less selfish than average.

46 5. Lessons from direct democracy in practice

Switzerland ‘Volksgesetzgebung’ (people’s legislation) had already appeared in the founding programme of the German Sozial- Switzerland is the only country, except for the tiny principal- demokratische Arbeiterspartei (social democratic workers’ ity of Liechtenstein, which has a highly structured system of party) in 1869. In the programmes of Gotha (1875) and Er- direct democracy at the national level. A similar system of furt (1891), direct democracy occupied a key position as well. direct decision-making by the citizens exists only in certain Karl Marx, on the other hand, expressed strong criticism of states of the United States, with California as the typical ex- the direct-democratic ideal. ample. But there is no direct democracy at federal level in the United States, which means that a whole range of powers Instruments there lie beyond the reach of the referendum. At the federal level in Switzerland, with around 4.8 million “Switzerland is the only nation in the world where politi- people entitled to vote, the following three direct-democratic cal life truly revolves around the referendum. The country instruments are the most important. All Swiss referendums of 6.5 million shuns popular leaders, and the division of ex- are binding at every level. ecutive authority among the seven members of its Federal Council further discourages the politics of personality. When The obligatory referendum was introduced in 1848. With each individual political figures do happen to rise above the mul- amendment to the constitution, the government is obliged titude, it is almost always on the shoulders of a referendum to call a referendum, as well as for Switzerland’s accession campaign. Legislation in the Federal Assembly is an intricate to international organisations and urgent laws for which the dance of avoiding or winning a popular vote. The great po- optional referendum is not valid. litical moments of modern Switzerland have occurred not in the following of bold statesmen but in the national debates The optional referendum dates from 1874. If 50,000 citizens that have drawn the masses to the polls to decide their coun- give their signatures within 100 days after the official pub- try’s future.” (Kobach, 1994, p. 98) lication of a parliamentary act, they can force a referendum on the law. Initially this did not apply to laws that the parlia- Direct democracy in Switzerland comes from various sourc- ment had pronounced as urgent. But when the parliament es. First there was the tradition of local and cantonal public started to misuse this facility and began to declare all kinds assemblies in a part of what is now Switzerland, in which the of laws urgent, a referendum determined that urgent laws male citizens met annually in the market square to make the may come into effect immediately, but must always be sub- most important decisions (see 2-1). This dates from at least ject to an obligatory referendum afterwards. the 13th century. Secondly, there was the effect of foreign revo- lutions. Similarly to other parts of Europe, the first national The constitutional popular initiative (abbreviated to popular referendum in Switzerland was held in 1802 on a new con- initiative), introduced in 1891, enables citizens to obtain a stitution under the protectorate of the invading French. The referendum on their own written proposals if they collect third factor was new political movements. In the first half 100,000 signatures within 18 months. This proposal can of the 19th century, it was mainly the ‘radical’ liberals – who either be generally formulated, and must be then be con- distinguished themselves from the ordinary liberals because verted into legislation by a parliamentary commission, or be they did not believe that representative democracy was suffi- in the form of precisely defined paragraphs of law to which cient – who expanded the use of referendums in Switzerland. the parliament cannot make any amendment. If adopted, the Then, however, the socialists and the Catholics noticed that proposal becomes part of the constitution. In practice, how- the liberals certainly did not represent the majority of citi- ever, citizens can also use this instrument for subjects that zens on all subjects and so they became the most important are usually regulated by ordinary legislation. For this reason, driving force for the further expansion of direct democracy the Swiss constitution is a remarkable mixture of national (Kobach, 1993). An important person in the socialist move- principles and ‘ordinary’ policy. The Swiss are attempting ment was the German Moritz Rittinghausen. He was the first to overcome this problem by introducing the general popu- to elaborate the concept of the citizens’ initiative referendum, lar initiative. This was approved by referendum in February in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung newspaper, when Karl Marx 2003, but only entered into force in 2006. This allows citi- was publishing it. When the newspaper was banned, Ritting- zens, after collecting 100,000 signatures, to submit a gen- hausen took refuge in France, where, from 1850 onwards, eral proposal to the parliament, which then has the freedom he wrote a series of articles that promoted direct-democratic to decide whether to make it into a bill or an amendment to decision-making. His views met with great approval, espe- the constitution. This is then subject to a referendum. cially with the followers of Fourier. Via this French detour, Rittinghausen’s ideas reached the Swiss workers’ movement. The popular initiative enables the Swiss to call for a referen- (Weihrauch, 1989, p. 15-16) The socialists played a signifi- dum on virtually any issue. The only substantive exceptions cant role in the ‘Democratic Movement’, which agitated from are some binding provisions of international law, such as the 1860 onwards for the further expansion of direct-democratic prohibition on genocide and slavery. Furthermore, the popu- rights in large parts of Switzerland. A binding popular ini- lar initiative must meet the requirements of unity of form tiative referendum (where citizens can initiate a referendum and content (for example, a popular initiative cannot contain on proposals they have written themselves), was held for the two subjects). Finally, the customary law applies that practi- first time in the canton of Zurich in 1869. cally unfeasible proposals can also be refused; a popular initiative was once declared invalid because it proposed reducing The ideal of direct democracy was also popular with social- expenditure for years that would have already ended before ist movements in many European countries. For example, the referendum was to be held. The parliament reviews all

47 these issues. But popular initiatives on, for instance, taxes, prohibition on cultivating plants and keeping animals that state expenditure, military issues and even the form of gov- had been genetically modified. The government and parlia- ernment are commonplace in Switzerland. ment recommended a ‘no’ on the grounds that these issues should already be sufficiently covered by existing legisla- The popular initiative is the cornerstone of direct democracy. tion. However, the popular initiative was adopted by 55.7 After all, in the optional referendum, citizens only respond percent of the population. to actions of the parliament that are still being debated. With the popular initiative, however, they actively determine the • The optional referendum wanted to block an act of parlia- political agenda. ment that was aimed at increasing the possibilities for the sale of goods at railway stations and airports on Sundays. Switzerland does not hold referendums that have been drawn The trade unions started an initiative for a referendum on up by the parliament or the government – also known as pleb- this issue. They were afraid that Sunday was increasingly iscites. In Switzerland, referendums are either prescribed by becoming an ordinary working day. The act of parliament the constitution, or initiated by citizens using the method was nevertheless approved by an extremely narrow major- of collecting signatures. With ever-increasing numbers of ity of 50.6 percent. referendums being held in Europe, the most common form internationally is unfortunately still the plebiscite. These are Laws that were approved by the Swiss parliament and sub- generally non-binding ‘referendums’ that are drawn up by sequently contested by an optional referendum had about a politicians in power in order to provide their policy with ex- 50 percent chance of surviving the popular vote during the traordinary legitimacy, or because coalitions or parties have period from 1874 to 2004. This means that in one out of internal disagreements. The rules of the game are frequently every two cases the parliamentary act proved to be against the adapted in each case, in the manner that seems best for the wishes of the majority of the people. There is no reason to as- politicians at that moment. This has very little to do with real sume that the Swiss parliament diverges more strongly from direct democracy. the will of the people than the representative bodies in other countries. The contrary is more likely to be true: precisely Direct democracy in practice because Swiss members of parliament know that optional referendums are possible, they are very prudent in their leg- From 1848 to the end of 2004, 531 referendums were held at islative work. The parliament’s proposals for constitutional federal level: 187 obligatory referendums, 152 optional refer- amendments or membership of international organisations endums and 192 popular initiatives. Turnout averaged more were approved in 73% of cases. Popular initiatives, on the than 50 percent (with exceptions of up to 80 percent) and, other hand, had only a 10% chance of succeeding during the moreover, for some time now has been around 10 percentage same period. On the smaller number of occasions when the points higher than the turnout for parliamentary elections. A parliament used its right to make a counter proposal, this vast archive of these referendums is maintained on the gov- was accepted in six out of ten cases. The Swiss are cautious ernment website at www.admin.ch. At all levels – municipal, and would not accept proposals that clearly showed weak- cantonal and federal – more than 200 referendums are held nesses. At the cantonal level, a higher percentage of popular each year in Switzerland. initiatives is approved.

To illustrate, we will examine the federal referendums of 2005. However, on the basis of these figures, it would be incorrect In Switzerland, all referendums and elections are bundled into to state that the popular initiative is only window dressing. In two to four national voting days each year. Citizens then vote particular, popular initiatives often have an effect, even when not only in municipal, cantonal and federal elections, but also they do not gain a majority of the vote. One of the functions on referendums. There were three voting days in 2005. of the popular initiative is, for example, the opportunity for a minority to make a subject an issue of national attention. • On 5 June 2005, there were two optional referendums on This results in issues being discussed in Switzerland, which, the ballot sheet. The first contested the approval by the par- elsewhere, would not receive any serious discussion in the liament of the Schengen/Dublin Accords. The Schengen debates dominated by the political parties. In Switzerland, Agreement abolished systematic passport controls. The this frequently leads to indirect responses from politicians. Dublin Accords seek to prevent asylum hopping, because Even when an issue has been unsuccessful, the parliament or asylum seekers are now allowed to seek asylum in only one government will still meet the initiators half-way by granting participating country. The parliamentary decision was ap- some of their demands. Kaufmann et al. (2005, p. 49) speak proved by 54.6 percent of the voters. The second referen- of “the country of the satisfied losers” in this context. This is dum contested an act of parliament that made a registered further encouraged because the initiators of a popular initia- partnership possible for gay and lesbian couples. The act tive have the right to withdraw the initiative prior to the vote. was approved by 58.0 percent of the voters. After submission of the signatures, there is quite regularly a negotiation process between parliament and applicants, which • On 25 September 2005, a single optional referendum was leads to popular initiatives being withdrawn by the applicants held. The parliament wanted a treaty with the European Un- in a third of all cases. “Anyone who questions initiators, stud- ion, which controls the free movement of people within the ies sources and analyses the political playing field, reaches the EU, to be extended step-by-step to the 10 new EU member conclusion that approximately half of all initiators of popu- states. At the same time, measures were proposed to prevent lar initiatives believe that they have achieved something that low wages and social dumping in Switzerland. This was con- made the effort worthwhile, and which would not have been tested by four committees, which were afraid of uncontrolled possible without the popular initiative.” (Gross 1999, p. 93) immigration and bad working conditions. The citizens approved the extension of the treaty, however, by 56.0 percent. One example of the above is the popular initiative concern- • On 27 November, there was both a popular initiative and an ing the total abolition of the Swiss army, which was started optional referendum. The popular initiative sought a 5-year at the beginning of the 1980s and came to the vote in 1989.

48 Until then, the ubiquitous army had been something of a international body. The latter is the case with the European sacred cow in Switzerland. Almost all men were subject to Union, however, and therefore there is currently a large military service, there was no alternative civil duty and re- Swiss majority against membership of the EU. fresher exercises were arranged up until middle age. The popular initiative was started by some young social demo- Popular initiatives have also played a role in the history of crats, not so much because they believed that they could Switzerland by improving and deepening democracy. A very acquire a majority, but because they believed that there was important popular initiative was the one “Für die Proporzwahl much more resistance to the army than could be inferred der Nationalrates” (‘For proportional representation in the from the official debates, and they wanted to prove this. In parliament’), which was adopted by 66.8% of the citizens the beginning, everyone thought that only a handful of the in November 1918 (the Nationalrat is the larger of the two Swiss would vote for this proposal. When the debates in the houses of parliament). This replaced the majority electoral run-up to the referendum became increasingly heated, the system (in which, within each electoral district, the candi- government stated that it would be a disaster for the nation date with the most votes represents the entire district, as in if more than 10 percent of the citizens voted for abolition. All Great Britain or the United States) with a proportional elec- the important parties, except for the social democrats, who toral system (in which the entire country is considered as refrained from issuing any voting recommendation, spoke a single electoral district). A majority electoral system leads out against the initiative; only the extreme left, a very fringe to large distortions, because minorities then have much group in Switzerland, supported the proposal. Even the most less representation. After all, because minorities live spread important socio-economic partners (except for the absten- throughout the country, they always come off worst within tionist ‘Schweizerische Gewerkschaftsbund’ – the Swiss trade their electoral district, and they have no representatives in union confederation) and the government and parliament, the parliament. The introduction of the proportional elec- of course, opposed the initiative. When the referendum was toral system has, together with direct democracy, made a held on 26 November 1989, the 35.6% of ‘yes’ votes in fa- great contribution to the Swiss ‘Konkordanz’ (consensus) sys- vour of abolition, combined with the high turnout of almost tem. In this system, all the political parties of any size have 70%, caused a shock throughout the country. The pacifists a permanent seat in the seven-person strong government. celebrated exuberantly, because they had achieved their goal. The government has no permanent premier; the chairman- Various measures were swiftly introduced to soften the now ship of the government rotates annually among the seven public opposition to the army, such as the introduction of members. The small parties in the parliament can neverthe- alternative civil duties, which was approved by referendum less take part in government thanks to the popular initiative. with an exceptional majority of 82.5% in December 1991. Even if they only represent a smaller group for their entire The army was also considerably scaled down during the manifesto, they can still have some individual manifesto is- following years. These actions probably contributed to the sues for which they do have majority support. By threatening opposition to the army diminishing and when, in Decem- a popular initiative they can draw attention to these issues. ber 2001, there was another vote on a popular initiative for Up until the Second World War, urgent federal laws were not abolition of the army, the number of supporters of abolition subject to the corrective referendum. In order to still push had fallen to 21.9%. The topic of a total abolition of the army through regulations that were contrary to the will of the peo- would never have been placed seriously on the agenda in a ple, the government and parliament quite often stated that representative system. the laws concerned were ‘urgent’ even though that was not actually the case. A popular initiative was launched against A referendum must never be viewed in isolation as some- this practice: henceforth, ‘urgent‘ laws would be subject to thing absolute. Referendums are like the beats of the tim- a compulsory referendum within the year. Government and pani in a symphony. If the vote goes against a proposal at parliament argued very strongly against this popular initia- a specific point in time, this can still initiate a process of tive, which would significantly restrict their power. But the debate and contemplation that contributes to the same pro- proposal was nevertheless adopted in 1946. A referendum in posal actually being able to obtain majority approval many 2003 approved the introduction of the ‘general popular ini- years later. A social learning process has taken place, and the tiative’, with which citizens only submit a general proposal power of persuasion has turned a minority into a majority. and leave it to the parliament to decide whether to convert The policy then has broad support. The circumstances may this into legislation or into an amendment to the constitu- also have changed, so that a proposal that was initially unac- tion. At the same time, the optional referendum was also ceptable now seems to offer good prospects. An example of made applicable to international treaties that contain impor- this is membership of the United Nations. In March 1986, tant provisions which, in order to be implemented nationally, a referendum was held on membership of the United Na- require new laws or amendments to existing laws. tions. The government, the parliament and all the significant parties and interest groups argued in favour of membership. Because all the referendum rights, including the signature But only 24.3% of Swiss voters voted to join. At that time thresholds, the absence of participation quorums, and the the Cold War was still at its height and the Swiss, who very specific subject exclusions, are set out in the constitution, fiercely defend their independence and neutrality concerning and because the constitution can only be changed by a ref- military blocks and conflicts, were afraid that membership of erendum, Swiss citizens are in charge of their own democ- the UN would lead to Switzerland taking sides in conflicts. racy. According to surveys, nine out of ten Swiss people are Years later, supporters started a popular initiative and, when against any infringement of their direct-democratic rights it came to the vote in March 2002, support had grown to (Kaufmann et al, 2005, p. 51). The trend in Switzerland is 54.6% and Switzerland became the 190th member of the UN. therefore towards an expansion of direct democracy and a What played a part in the public debate was not only that the lowering of the thresholds. The number of referendums Cold War had ended, but also that the Swiss understood that continues to grow. Between 1980 and 1989, there was an globalisation meant that they could not remain aloof from average of 6.2 federal referendums per year; an average of 10 everything, and that UN membership did not mean surren- referendums a year from 1990 to 1999; and an annual aver- dering any important democratic rights to an undemocratic age of 11.4 referendums from 2000 to 2004.

49 Do citizens by definition always vote for an expansion of di- The citizens’ committee has the right to supply its own text. rect democracy? No. In 1995, the population of the canton These texts are also always available to read on the federal of Berne, which also contains the Swiss capital Berne, ap- government’s website at www.admin.ch. A large proportion proved a reform of direct democracy which meant that the of this website is dedicated to direct democracy. number of obligatory referendums (on, among other things, amendments to the constitution) was considerably limited. • With popular initiatives, citizens have the right to assist- There were so many proposals of minor importance on the ance from civil servants with the exact formulation of their agenda that the citizens approved a reduction in these. They proposal. preferred to concentrate on the most important issues. • Since the general introduction of postal voting, a large majority of Swiss voters use this system. All Swiss people Some peculiarities of Swiss direct democracy: receive their polling cards by post and can decide for them- • It can take a very long time before voting on a popular ini- selves whether they will hand them in on the voting day tiative actually takes place. Once the necessary signatures (always a Sunday) in the polling station, or send them in have been collected, the ‘Bundesrat’ (the Swiss government) advance by mail. There is a special procedure for this, with has two years to prepare the referendum. If the ‘Bundesver- two envelopes to safeguard the secret ballot. sammlung’ (both houses of the Swiss parliament) prepares a counterproposal, another six months is added. Moreover, Recall calculating from the time the popular initiative is submit- Besides the popular initiative, there is also the recall or ‘Ab- ted, the parliament has no less than four years to decide berufung’, which is an interesting direct-democratic proce- whether or not it accepts the popular initiative. The parlia- dure. Recall means that an elected or public official (such as a ment can, of course, simply approve the legislative proposal judge, for instance) can be removed from office by a popular for which a popular initiative is submitted. In that case, the initiative. This system does exist in several Swiss cantons, but initiators have achieved their goal and can withdraw their not at federal level. In Berne, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Thurgau initiative. If the parliament draws up a counterproposal, the and Ticino, citizens can recall the cantonal parliament. Re- voters can vote for the original popular initiative or for the calling the cantonal government is possible in Schaffhausen, parliament’s counterproposal. These long times are seen as Solothurn, Thurgau and Ticino. After the recall, new elections an advantage by many supporters of direct democracy. They take place. In practice, however, this has never happened yet. enable sufficient time for a thorough social debate about the pros and cons of the proposal. Local democracy • There is no check on the constitutional nature of popular Besides the federal level, it is chiefly the cantonal and mu- initiatives, neither by the parliament, nor by a court of law. It nicipal levels that are important in Switzerland. is true that the parliament does check the popular initiative on a small number of binding provisions of international The cantons levy more or less the same amount of tax as law (see above), but this is very limited. In Swiss history, central government does. Their powers are very extensive. only one popular initiative has ever been declared invalid Section 3 of the Swiss federal constitution states that the can- because of such a conflict (as it happens, because of conflict tons are sovereign; all powers that are not explicitly delegated with the ‘non-refoulement’ principle – the sending back of to the federal level by the constitution automatically belong a refugee to a country where he or she would be in dan- to the cantons. Among other things, this includes: the police, ger). It is quite possible to introduce the death sentence by most education, economic policy legislation and a large pro- means of a referendum in Switzerland, but this has never portion of social security. been tried. Direct democracy has not led to more violations of human rights than in other European countries. There is The direct-democratic institutions vary quite considerably a considerable list of rights for minorities that were actually from canton to canton [see 4-2]. approved by means of referendums. In Zurich, the largest canton, 10,000 signatures are suffi- • Popular initiatives at the federal level, as well as constitu- cient for a popular initiative. An optional referendum only tional changes, are only accepted if there is a double ma- requires 5,000 signatures. Furthermore, all amendments to jority in favour: there must be a majority for the proposal the constitution, as well as all expenditure of more than 2 from both the individual voters and the cantons. The rea- million Swiss francs (approx. £900,000) must be approved son for this is that Switzerland is a country of minorities: by the citizens by referendum. During the last decade, there there are, for example, German-speaking, French-speak- was an annual average of more than nine cantonal refer- ing, Italian and Rhaeto-Romance cantons. The double ma- endums (besides the federal and municipal referendums, jority means that a few large cantons cannot easily outvote which are always held simultaneously). The top year, with 19 the smaller ones. cantonal referendums, was 1999. Sometimes there are major economic interests at stake, as was the case in the 1996 • Switzerland does not provide any financial support from referendum on the extension of Zurich airport at a cost of the government for groups of citizens who launch a ref- 873 million Swiss francs (£400 million). erendum. These citizens’ groups also do not have to open their accounts for public inspection. An unusual institution in the Zurich canton is the so-called • All Swiss people entitled to vote, however, do receive a refer- individual initiative (Einzelinitiative). A single person has the endum brochure in their letterbox well before each polling right to submit a proposal to the cantonal council. When such day. This includes, among other things, the complete text of a proposal receives the support of at least 60 council mem- the law on which they will vote, plus a factual summary on a bers, a referendum can be held. In 1995, for instance, citizen single A4 page, and arguments from both the government Albert Jörger was able to use this process to initiate a change and the citizens’ committee that initiated the referendum. in the way teachers were appointed in the canton’s schools.

50 The municipalities levy their own taxes on income and • Feld and Savioz (1997) took an accurate index of the de- property. In Switzerland, the municipalities spend a little gree of direct democracy in all the Swiss cantons and cor- less per resident than central government does. Beedham related this with the economic performance of the cantons (1996) gives the example of the municipality of Kilchberg at various times between 1982 and 1993. After having per- (7,000 residents) on the shores of Lake Zurich. The village formed extensive processing and excluding alternative ex- arranges its own education, has its own fire brigade, an old planations, they concluded that, depending on the point in people’s home, and its own policemen with two police boats time, the economic performance in the cantons with direct on the lake. The municipality gives its few very poor people democracy was between 5.4 and 15 percent higher than in 3,000 Swiss francs per person a month (more than £1,300 the representative cantons. “The coexistence of representa- a month), and also helps a handful of refugees, mainly from tive and direct democracies in Switzerland raises a natural Sri Lanka. There is a municipal council of seven elected question: if direct democracy is more efficient than repre- councillors, who monitor the work of the small number of sentative democracy, why do the representative democratic municipal officials. The real power of decision, however, lies cantons not adopt the successful strategies of their neigh- with the public assembly that meets four times a year. The bours?” asked Feld and Savioz (1997, p. 529). public assemblies are usually attended by some 400 municipal residents; sometimes several hundred more when there is • Pommerehne surveyed the 103 largest towns and cities something special on the agenda. These meetings set the tax of Switzerland on the link between direct democracy and rates, approve new municipal byelaws, discuss the municipal the efficiency of the government, with the treatment of accounts, consider construction plans, etc. These quarterly waste as the example. In the towns and cities with direct public assemblies constitute the highest level of municipal democracy, the treatment of waste was – other things be- authority; the seven-person municipal council presents its ing equal –10 percent cheaper than in the towns and cities recommendations to the meeting. Decisions are made by a without direct democracy. Moreover, Pommerehne found show of hands. A written secret ballot can be asked for by one a considerable cost saving if the treatment of waste was third of the people present, but this option has never been contracted out to a private company. The towns and cit- used to date. The citizens who attend have great powers. Fif- ies with direct democracy and private treatment of waste teen signatures are sufficient to obtain a municipal referen- had costs that were 30 per cent lower – other things being dum via the public assembly, but this seldom occurs. equal – than in the cities with a representative system and public treatment of waste. (Kirchgässner, Feld and Savioz, Kilchberg’s public assembly once more illustrates the ab- 1999, p. 98-100) surdity of participation quorums (chapter 2). A supporter of the quorum system would probably say that a public assem- • Kirchgässner, Feld and Savioz (1999, p. 92-98) examined 131 bly at which 400 of the 7,000 residents were present is ‘not of the 137 largest Swiss municipalities to determine the link representative’. In reality, the public assembly constitutes a between direct democracy and public debt, using data from super-representative municipal council. This large munici- 1990. In the municipalities where referendums on public pal council has a mandate, just like a traditionally elected expenditure were permitted (an example of direct democra- municipal council. Anyone who goes to the meeting is a cy), other things being equal, the public debt was 15 percent mandatory; anyone who stays at home gives a mandate to the lower than in municipalities where this was not the case. meeting. And Kilchberg is well managed. The allegation that direct popular management leads to failures is disproved • Feld and Matsusaka (2003) studied the link between public there in practice. spending and direct democracy. Some Swiss cantons have a finance referendum (Finanzreferendum), with which the citizens must approve all local government decisions on Effects of Swiss direct democracy expenditure above a certain amount (the average is 2.5 mil- The many referendums that have been held over more than lion Swiss francs). In cantons that have such a referendum, 150 years in Switzerland provide a goldmine of information public spending between 1980 and 1998 was an average of on what happens if the people are able to take their destiny 19 percent lower than in those without this instrument. into their own hands. A group of economists and political scientists from the universities of Zürich and St. Gallen – Bru- • Benz and Stutzer (2004) studied the link between direct no S. Frey, Reiner Eichenberger, Alois Stutzer, Lars P. Feld, democracy and the level of citizens’ political knowledge, Gebhard Kirchgässner, Marcel R. Savioz and others – have both in Switzerland and in the EU. For Switzerland, they for some time been systematically studying direct democra- gathered information from 7500 inhabitants and corre- cy’s effects on policy and society. To this end, they make use lated this with the 1 to 6 index of the level of direct de- of the fact that large differences exist in the degree of direct mocracy for the 26 cantons. The highest level of direct de- democracy that Swiss cantons have. Because the cantons mocracy was found in the Basle canton, with an index of also have major powers – Switzerland is in fact a confeder- 5.69; the lowest level was in the Geneva canton, its index ate cooperation between sovereign cantons – it is possible figure being 1.75. Other relevant variables were checked, to measure the specific effects of direct democracy in many including gender, age, education, income and whether or areas. This means, of course, that in their statistical calcula- not the people were members of a political party. They tions they always discounted the other factors that could in- concluded that, other things being equal, the difference fluence the studied relationship (the ceteris paribus principle in political knowledge between an inhabitant of Geneva [other things being equal]). In 1999, Kirchgässner, Feld and and Basle was considerable and amounted to the same as Savioz summarised a large number of studies in the study the difference between being a member of a political party Die Direkte Demokratie: Modern, erfolgreich, entwicklungs- und or not, or between the monthly income groups of 5000 exportfähig (‘Direct Democracy: Modern, successful, expand- and 9000 Swiss francs. For the EU, in which 15 European able and exportable’). But a lot of new studies have also been countries were studied, of which six had held a national published since then. Several of the most striking research referendum in the last four preceding years, they discov- results are shown below: ered similar results.

51 • Frey, Kucher and Stutzer (2001) studied whether the ‘sub- the people. There are very few subjects excluded, and in many jective well-being’ of citizens is affected by direct democracy. states actually none. (Waters, 2003; Matsusaka, 2004) Subjective well-being can be measured straightforwardly, in the sense that you can just ask people how happy they con- This has led to an impressive number of referendums be- sider themselves to be. Frey took the same index of the Swiss ing held. Almost 2,000 citizens’ initiative referendums were cantons as Benz and Stutzer, and correlated this with 6000 held at state level between 1904 and 2000. In the peak year Swiss people’s answers to the question: “How satisfied are of 1996, in the 24 states that have citizens’ initiatives, at least you with your life as a whole today?” Frey tested for numer- 96 citizens’ initiative referendums were put to the vote. In ous other variables, and level of satisfaction was given a rat- comparison, the representatives of these states passed more ing on a scale of 1 to 10. Inhabitants of Basle (the most direct- than 14,000 laws and resolutions in the same year. Optional democratic canton) scored 12.6 percentage points higher on referendums are less important than citizens’ initiatives in the well-being scale than inhabitants of Geneva (the canton the US. On the other hand, very many compulsory referen- with the most representative form of democracy). Frey also dums are held. The total number of referendums held at examined the difference between the subjective well-being state level amounted to some 19,000 up to 1999. Besides that arises because the policy is more in accordance with these, some 10,000 referendums are held at local level each the wishes of the citizens (outcome), versus the subjective year. (Efler, 1999) well-being that arises through participation in voting itself (the process). He did this by including a group of foreigners, Although the rules appear to be generally similar to each other, who cannot vote at the cantonal level, but who do reap the there are considerable differences in the number of citizens’ benefits of the referendum results. The non-voting foreign- initiative referendums held in the various states. More than ers were also happier in the direct-democratic cantons, but half of all referendums initiated by citizens were held in only 5 less so than the Swiss who could vote. Frey concluded from states: Oregon, California, Colorado, North Dakota and Arizo- this that taking part in the voting was responsible for two- na. Even though Oregon, with 318 up to 2000, held more citi- thirds of the increased subjective well-being, and greater ac- zens’ initiative referendums than California, which held 275 cordance of policy with the people’s wishes for one third. in the same period, we will take the latter state as the example below. The reasons are that California is not only the most • In Chapter 4, box 4-2, we have already discussed the con- important American state – being the most highly populated siderably lower tax evasion that occurs in the direct-demo- state and culturally and economically very successful – but cratic cantons. also because Californian direct democracy is controversial.

Frequently-heard objections to direct democracy are dis- In California, the introduction of direct democracy is closely cussed in Chapter 6. linked with the name of Dr. John Randolph Haynes, who founded the California Direct Legislation League in 1895. Thanks to his efforts, the opportunity for direct democratic United States: California decision-making was introduced in the city of Los Angeles in 1902. At state level, the introduction of the referendum The United States has no federal referendums. The constitu- was mainly a response to the stranglehold that one specific tional assembly of 1787, persuaded by Adams and Madison, company, the Central Pacific Railroad, had acquired on politi- accepted the principle that the elected people represent the cal life in California at the end of the 19th century. In 1901, entire nation and not just their own supporters. Direct de- the book entitled ‘Octopus’ appeared, in which Frank Norris mocracy was not provided for. describes the vice-like grip that this railway company had on politics in California. In fact, the company was not only in Since the last decade of the 19th century, however, the Pro- the business of transport, but also in land speculation, for gressive and Populist Movements have been conducting instance. Almost all the legal rulings at the time were to its campaigns to have the citizens’ initiative referendum intro- advantage. Norris wrote: “They own the ballot box (….) They duced. They are mainly inspired by the Swiss example. The own us.” When this grip of the ‘octopus’ on public life became first state to make a change in this direction was South Da- known, it was resisted. Hiram Johnson, a public prosecu- kota in 1898, followed by Utah in 1900 and Oregon in 1902. tor, supporter of Haynes and leader of the progressive wing Interest in direct democracy was created in Oregon shortly among the Republicans, became Governor in 1910. He con- after the state was founded, spurred on by a group of Swiss ducted his campaign (“the Pacific must keep its dirty paws immigrants who had settled in Clackamas County. Another out of politics”) by car and refused to take the train. In 1911, 16 states were to follow these initiatives up to 1918. Haynes, Johnson and their supporters succeeded in introducing the citizens’ initiative referendum. At the same time, the Currently, 27 of the 51 states have a form of direct democ- possibility of ‘recall’ – the dismissal by the voters of elected racy at state level. The regulations differ from state to state, representatives and high-level officials – was introduced. The because each state is sovereign on this point. The initiative, California Direct Legislation League still had to fend off vari- comparable with the Swiss citizens’ initiative, is available in ous attacks on direct democracy. In 1920, opponents of the 24 states; the popular referendum – the optional referendum citizens’ initiative attempted to use the instrument itself to with which parliamentary laws can be blocked – is also avail- nip it in the bud. This proposal, which contained a heavily able in 24 states, mainly the same states that allow the initia- increased signature threshold for citizens’ initiatives on tax is- tive. At local level, direct democracy is even more widespread. sues, was nevertheless rejected by the voters (Waters 2003). Almost half of all US cities have the citizens’ initiative referendum. All in all, 70% of Americans live in a state, town or city Some characteristics of Californian direct democracy: in which the citizens’ initiative referendum is available. Fur- thermore, except for Delaware, all states have the compulsory The legislative citizens’ referendum (‘initiative’) differs from referendum for constitutional amendments, which means the Swiss system in various aspects. The rules have actually that constitutional amendments must always be submitted to remained unchanged since 1912.

52 • People who launch a citizens’ initiative can call upon certain taken place. The annulment of a proposal approved by the government services at an early stage. They can be assisted people is bad for democracy: the people must not only have by the Legislative Counsel in getting the wording of the the final say, but they must also see that their say is final. An proposal into the proper legal form. The subject prepared annulment, often on formal grounds, creates the frustrating in this way is then passed to a senior judge, the attorney and frequently justified impression that a powerful elite still general, who composes the official title and the summary of ultimately awards itself the final say. the proposal. The title and summary are important because they appear in the official ballot pamphlet. Furthermore, in • The Ballot Pamphlet: three to six weeks before the vote cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, among others, – the same as in Switzerland – the voters receive a booklet an analysis is made of the fiscal consequences of the new containing the essential documentation about the referen- proposal. This all takes four to six weeks. The proposal can dum. This booklet contains, in addition to the official title, then be circulated for the collection of signatures. summary and analysis mentioned previously: • the complete text of the initiative; • All matters that are within the power of the state can be the • arguments for and against from the supporters and op- subject of a citizens’ initiative, thus including the budget, ponents, which must be submitted four months before taxes, immigration, etc. There is only one formal require- the vote. Supporters and opponents have the right to 500 ment: there must be unity of subject – a citizens’ initiative words; after another two weeks, both sides can submit a may not contain two unrelated subjects. further text of no more than 250 words in response to the other party’s text; • Both constitutional initiatives and statute law initiatives • a concise summary of the arguments from both sides. are possible. The signature threshold for the first of these is equal to 8% of the turnout at the last election for the The fate of referendums in California is variable. Between state governor; for the second it is 5% of this turnout. The 1912 and the 1930s, the voters had to deal with an average maximum collection period is 150 days. An approved con- of more than four referendums a year. In the 1950s, 1960s stitutional initiative cannot be subsequently amended by and 1970s, the citizens’ initiative was rarely used. The people the state’s house of representatives, but only by a new ref- had great faith in the representative system. In the 1960s, erendum. Approved statute law initiatives, however, can be only nine initiatives in total were launched. However, there- amended by the state’s house of representatives. after the citizens’ initiative began to gain in popularity, when remarkably enough both progressive and conservative initia- • Californian citizens’ initiatives are direct initiatives. In con- tives seemed to have chances of success. ‘Conservative’ ini- trast to indirect initiatives, these are not enacted through tiatives included the introduction of the death penalty, via a the parliament. The parliament, therefore, cannot launch referendum in 1972. In the same year, the environmental a counter proposal against the citizens’ initiative. Citizens’ movement booked a huge success with a bill about protec- initiatives are swiftly submitted to the ballot: if the formal tion of the coastal zone which was approved by referendum. thresholds are achieved in the summer, the citizens’ initia- Even the threat of a citizens’ initiative was sufficient to force tive will already be put to the vote in the November of that certain important changes, such as the moratorium on nu- year. In principle, there is only one election day every two clear power stations that was approved in 1976. years, to which a maximum of one additional voting day may sometimes be added. This means that there are frequently In 1977-78, the notorious ‘Proposition 13’ initiative was drawn very many citizens’ initiatives put to the vote on a single elec- up, which called for a halt to the increase in tax on real estate. tion day. These points, each of which differs from the Swiss The preceding years had seen steep inflation taking hold and system, are criticised by some supporters of direct democra- the price of land and houses rising even higher than the de- cy. According to them, longer periods and the spreading out preciation in the value of the dollar. The result was that aver- of citizens’ initiatives across several voting days each year are age families were confronted with a double tax explosion. Lo- good for the public debate. The absence of a parliamentary cal taxes that were linked to the value of their homes shot up. process and a possible counterproposal provides the public And the inflation caused their incomes to move into higher with less information and fewer options. and higher tax brackets, without a commensurate rise of pur- chasing power in real terms. This mechanism provided the • A proposal that is approved by the public can nevertheless state of California with 2.6 billion dollars extra income in still be annulled by the law courts. The risk that a legislative 1976. In 1977, the consensus increased in the Californian proposal approved by referendum may nonetheless still be parliament for using the additional income to lighten the annulled by the courts is quite considerable: between 1964 burden of the small homeowners. However, the politicians and 1990, this happened to 14 of the 35 citizens’ initiatives just could not agree on a precise scheme. Democrats argued that achieved a majority in the ballot box. A successful citi- in favour of a scheme that mainly benefited people with low- zens’ initiative can thus see the results of long, hard work be er incomes, while Republicans, such as Reagan, proposed lost in court. It is clear that the checking of the proposed leg- measures that provided high earners with the most benefit. islation after the vote has been held is a distinct disadvantage of the Californian system. This problem could be elegantly Nothing happened during the entire spring, and in July two solved by introducing an intermediate petitionary step: a cit- conservative anti-tax activists, Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, izens’ initiative that has gathered a relatively small number announced the launch of a citizens’ initiative. Their proposal of signatures, for instance 10,000, acquires the right to a made short shrift of the uncontrolled tax increases that were parliamentary debate on the proposal and to a check by a driving the small homeowners to despair. But Proposition 13 constitutional court. This provides the people submitting had another hallmark: it made no distinction between homes the citizens’ initiative with the right to then revise their pro- and businesses, but lumped all real estate into the same cat- posal in the light of the parliamentary debate. Moreover, the egory. This meant that the proposal provided the business early constitutional check prevents a discouraging legal de- community with an enormous benefit, where they had not feat of the proposal after the entire referendum process has even requested it. This aspect did not attract any attention

53 in the autumn of 1977, when the campaign to collect signa- of 15 million in 2003. Nor is it something which happens very tures for Proposition 13 was in full swing, while in the political often; in fact, only once before has a Governor been forced to world every path to a solution still seemed to be thoroughly resign in the US – in 1921. At local level, the recall is used more blocked. In December, Jarvis and Gann submitted the signa- often (36 states have local recall), but in the large majority of tures for the initiative, more than twice the required number. cases, the politicians survive the recall: councillors survive in In the winter, after a whole year of arguing, the parliament 70.8% of cases and mayors in as many as 82.4% of cases. had still not reached a consensus about what should happen. In January 1978, the members of the parliament were under The reason why a group of citizens collected 900,000 sig- tremendous pressure to come up with a solution. Meanwhile, natures was that Davis – who had earlier been re-elected as Proposition 13 had already built up tremendous popular sup- Governor by the narrowest of majorities – had already lost port. It was not until around March 1978 that the parliament considerable authority by his poor response to a severe and finally presented an alternative proposal, which would be put long-lasting energy crisis, and subsequently appeared to have to the voters in June as Proposition 8, together with Proposi- lied about an enormous budget deficit. During his re-election tion 13 from Jarvis and Gann. Despite, or perhaps precisely campaign, Davis painted a rosy picture of the financial situa- because of the massive support from all the politicians for tion, attacked everyone who spoke about a budget deficit, and Proposition 8, the campaign-weary citizens chose Proposition categorically excluded any new tax increases. Shortly after his 13 with a crushing majority. Shultz wrote about this in 1997: re-election, however, Davis revealed a record deficit of 32 bil- “Twenty years after the fact, it is important to realise how the lion dollars (more than the combined deficits of all the other tax revolt in California arose. It was about people who lived in US states put together, while two years earlier there was still small houses, purchased in the 1950s for perhaps 15,000 dol- a budget surplus), and decided on a tax increase worth 8 bil- lars, and who were suddenly confronted with taxes based on lion dollars. In addition, it was apparent that Davis was being ten times that value. They grabbed at Proposition 13 to protect backed by ‘Big Business’: during the recall, the two most im- themselves, and 20 years on they still cling to it steadfastly.” portant mouthpieces of Californian business – the California Business Roundtable and the Los Angeles Chamber of Com- The breakthrough of Proposition 13 produced two conse- merce – supported Davis. quences. Tax revolts also arose in other states where forms of citizens’ initiative existed. The success of Proposition 13 The fact that an actor replaced Davis has nothing to do with made public opinion once more aware of the possibilities direct democracy. At federal level, the US does not have a provided by the referendum. “Towards the mid-1980s, the single form of direct democracy – the US is one of the few citizens’ initiative began to replace representation as the countries worldwide that has never held a national referen- main stage for resolving the major political debates. Outside dum – and yet the actor Ronald Reagan was able to become the representative system, both left- and right-wing activists President. were inspired by the example of Proposition 13. For good or bad reasons, many dreamed of becoming the next Howard It is certainly not good that under the Californian recall system Jarvis. Organisations began to acquire the resources and a sitting governor who was elected with 40% of the votes can skills needed to present their goals for direct voting. During be forced to stand down, while his successor can be elected the 1980s, the efforts to obtain a citizens’ initiative doubled with only 30% support. This is because the voters must elect and the people had already voted on more than 48 measures the successor in a single round from a list of more than two by the end of the decade. In addition, a citizens’ initiative’s candidates. It therefore seldom occurs that the candidate with chance of success became greater. Prior to 1980, the Califor- the most votes also gains an absolute majority. But this is not nian voters only approved one in three proposals. Between an inherent element of the recall. This aspect could easily be 1980 and 1990, almost half were approved.” (Shultz, 1996, changed by having more rounds of voting in which ultimately p. 3) In the 1990s, interest continued to increase. In Novem- the two candidates with the most votes must stand against ber 1996, the voters had to decide more measures than dur- each other – exactly the same as in French presidential elec- ing the entire period from 1960 to 1969. tions. The people who have previously voted for third and lower-placed candidates must still choose between the two most Proposition 13 is often cited by opponents of the referendum popular candidates in the last round. Then there will always to illustrate the irresponsibility of public voting behaviour. be an absolute majority for one candidate. (Nijeboer, 2003) In fact, it was the irresponsible passivity of the Californian parliament that caused the tax revolt among the voters. Direct-democratic decision-making has enjoyed more confidence among the voters than indirect decision-making for sev- Criticism was also voiced against the Californian recall regu- eral decades already. Recent polls in the U.S. confirm this. Half lation as a result of the removal in 2003 of Governor Gray of those questioned have confidence in the people as direct Davis, who was replaced by the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. legislators. By contrast, 78% of the people questioned consider The media created the picture that it was much too easy to that the parliament is managed by a handful of ‘big interest’ request a recall and that the sitting politician did not have the representatives, whereas only 15% believe that the parliament slightest chance in such a case. There was further criticism keeps the general welfare in mind (Baldassare 2005). of the fact that the sitting governor could be voted off by a simple majority, whereas his successor could be elected with The effect of the citizens’ initiative fewer votes. Furthermore, it was claimed that the recall campaign was a ‘grass roots’ campaign in appearance only: in fact, on taxes and expenditure ‘big business’ was really behind it. And the circumstance that In respect of California it is often claimed that direct democ- a ‘serious’ politician was being exchanged for ‘just an actor’ racy has led to budgetary disruption, because the people sys- showed the type of abuse to which direct democracy leads. tematically reduce taxes by direct-democratic means to the point at which the state can no longer operate as it should. That is mostly incorrect. First, it is not easy to request a recall: Proposition 13 is often quoted in evidence (see, for example, at least 900,000 signatures were needed out of an electorate Daniel Smith’s book ‘Tax Crusaders’).

54 Following this criticism, the US political scientist Matsusaka, One therefore cannot unconditionally say that the referendum in his study ‘For the many or the few’ (2004), carefully exam- always leads to tax reductions. The only thing one can say is ined the effect of the referendums on taxes and expenditure that the citizens’ initiative referendum ensures better imple- in the United States. He gathered an enormous quantity of mentation of the will of the majority. Apparently the 6% public data from all the American states and some 4,700 American spending around 1900 was too low in the eyes of most people cities about the last 100 years – “in essence, all the data that (Matsusaka relates this to the rapidly increasing urbanisation is currently available” (p. xi). He discovered three effects: at that time, which caused demand to increase for all kinds of (1) overall public expenditure by states and local councils collective infrastructure), whereas the current approximately decreased 40% is clearly considered too high and too centralised. (2) expenditure is transferred to a more local level (3) there is a shift from general taxation to payment for spe- Matsusaka devoted an extensive chapter to the question of cific services supplied whether the three shifts that occurred under the influence of the citizens’ initiative referendum also reflect the will of the This means that the people, if they have a chance to do so, people. For this purpose he consulted the results of a large demonstrate a tendency to slim down the state – especially number of opinion polls that have been held during the course the central state – and that they are also inclined to let people of the last three decades. Millions of dollars are not needed for pay more for their own consumption. In the US, the govern- opinion polls – a couple of thousand dollars is sufficient to ment spends approximately 36% of the GNP; about half of hold a representative opinion poll in the US – and no cam- this is spent by local councils and states. If the citizens’ ini- paigns costing millions are conducted. Thus there is no distor- tiative referendum is available in a specific state, this leads tion as a result of one-sided financing. From the opinion polls to an annual average tax reduction, for a four-person family, it becomes clear that most Americans are indeed supporters of of $534 and to a drop of $589 in the state’s public spending. smaller government (which corresponds with the trend to over- This corresponds to around 4% of the state’s income and all tax reduction), that they support decentralisation (spend- public spending. It is a significant, but not dramatic, differing power shifts to more local governing authorities) and that ence in absolute terms. they generally consider taxes as the least attractive source of public revenue. Even more forcefully: “For every policy I am Matsusaka discovered another remarkable finding. The ar- able to examine, the initiative pushes policy in the direction a rangements for the citizens’ initiative referendum are not majority of people say they want to go. I am unable to findany the same in all the states concerned. The main variable is the evidence that the majority dislikes the policy changes caused signature threshold that must be achieved, and this can vary by the initiative”. (Matsusaka, 2004, p. xi-xii; italicised). from 2% to 10% of the registered electorate. The impact of the citizens’ initiative referendum increases systematically with Matsusaka’s conclusion is clear: “Some thoughtful observ- the decrease in the signature threshold. In states with the ers (…) have argued that the initiative allows individuals and lowest signature thresholds, the impact of the referendum groups to bring about policies contrary to the public interest. on public revenue and public spending is within a range of Their argument is based on the observation that the initia- up to 7%, whereas the impact is insignificant in states with a tive is expensive to use, and appears to be dominated by rich high threshold (p. 33-35). The easier it is to launch a citizens’ individuals and groups. The evidence here, however, shows initiative referendum, the lower the level of tax. that even if wealthy interests are prominent players in initiative politics, their efforts ultimately redound to the benefit The tendency to reduce taxes does not impact on all levels of the majority. There is no mystery how this could happen. of public administration in the same manner. The over- Without the initiative, voters are forced to accept the policy all reduction in tax is the result of a strong trend to reduce choices of the legislature. With the initiative, voters are given spending at state level by approximately 12%, combined with choices. If the alternative on an initiative is worse than the a less marked trend to increase spending at the local level of legislature’s policy, the initiative can be rejected and no harm counties and cities. This trend to decentralisation seems to is done. If the alternative is better, the voters can accept the be statistically very solid. This does not mean, however, that initiative and are better off. In short, even if there is unequal the taxes increase at local level. The higher spending in the access when it comes to proposing initiatives, the ability of cities (to the extent that there is a direct correlation with the voters to filter out the bad proposals and keep the good ones provisions of the popular referendum), is paid for by charges allows the process to work to the advantage of the majority for services supplied: “At the state level the initiative led to (...) I want to emphasize that the evidence is value neutral; about a 5 percent reduction in taxes and no change in charg- it does not tell us whether the initiative process is a good or es. At the city level, the initiative led to about 14 percent more bad form of government. The evidence simply shows that the charges and no change in taxes.” (p. 52). initiative promotes the will of the majority” (p. 71).

Finally, one more remarkable finding. The data above con- The role of ‘special interests’ cern the period from 1970 to 2000. Most of the states introduced the referendum around the beginning of the twentieth The above is closely linked to the theme of ‘special interests’. century and the conditions under which referendums take A lot of money has been involved with direct democracy in place have been modified very little since then. At the start California from the beginning. In the 1922 elections, the total of the twentieth century, public spending was approximately amount invested was already more than a million dollars. Dur- 6% of GNP (Gross National Product), whereas a hundred ing the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s the amount of money spent on years later this figure is approaching 40%. Matsusaka also campaigns exceeded this many times over. In 1992, campaign studied the effect of the referendum during the period from committees in 21 states spent an estimated 117 million dollars 1902 to 1942, from which it appeared that the referendum on campaigns and in 1998 this had already risen to 400 mil- led to an expansion of public spending. Matsusaka also found lion dollars in 44 states. Of this 400 million, California took that public spending in that period increased more sharply the lion’s share with 256 million dollars spent. (Garrett and as the signature threshold for obtaining a referendum fell. Gerber, 2001, p. 73) Since the end of the 1980s, more money

55 has been spent in California on citizens’ initiatives than on initiatives by other people, by launching a counter-initiative. lobbying in the parliament. The business community pro- When a citizens’ initiative seems to be very popular and even vided around 66% of the money in 1990 (individuals: 12%; using large amounts of money does not seem able to turn political parties: 7%; trade unions: 1%). (Shultz, 1996, p. 81) the tide, wealthy opponents attempt to sow confusion by launching an alternative proposal, a counter-initiative, which The citizens’ initiatives were professionalised at an early appears very similar to the original if viewed superficially. stage. At the time of the First World War, Joseph Robinson This happened for the first time in 1978, with the anti-tax had already set up a business that collected signatures for initiative Proposition 13 already discussed. Several politicians a remuneration. Currently such firms ask for around one launched a ‘moderated’ counter-initiative at the last moment, million dollars for collecting the required signatures for a which however was unsuccessful. Californian citizens’ initiative. In 1930, the first firm was founded that actually designed campaigns (Whitaker & A key year was 1990, when several progressive initiatives Baxter’s Campaigns Inc.). Meanwhile, several dozen profes- were high fliers. There was the ‘Nickel per drink’ initiative, sional ‘consultants’ are active in the state, who supervise both which proposed a higher tax on alcohol (Proposition 134); the campaign for professional politicians and the campaigns there was the ‘Big Green’ initiative, a major environmental around citizens’ initiatives. These consultants usually focus initiative drawn up by environmental groups in cooperation on a single ideological segment of the ‘political market’. with democratic politicians; and there was ‘Forests Forever’ (Proposition 130), that was specifically aimed at the preserva- One thing and another leads to a frequently invoked argument: tion of the Californian forests. financially powerful special-interest groups would abuse the binding citizens’ initiative referendum to push through their A leaked confidential memorandum revealed the chemical own agenda, to the prejudice of the ‘general interest’, which and petrochemical industry’s awareness that the ‘Big Green’ is considered as being served by the people’s representative initiative in particular could not be directly prevented be- system. This argument is not usually thought through con- cause of its tremendous popularity, so a counter-initiative sistently. We have already quoted above Matsusaka’s funda- was launched: ‘Big Brown’ (Proposition 135). The timber in- mental argument that the referendum proposal that is sub- dustry countered ‘Forests Forever’ with ‘Big Stump’ (Proposi- mitted as an alternative to the intentions of the ‘representative tion 138). To counter the ‘Nickel per drink’ initiative, the al- system’ also increases the options for the voters and thus of- cohol industry launched two of their own initiatives: ‘Penny fers them more room to make decisions that best match their a drink’ (Proposition 126), which proposed a lower alcohol preference. Matsusaka compares this with a family in which tax, and a second initiative that would make any subsequent the father (= ‘representative system’) unilaterally ‘proposes’ tax increase, including tax increases on alcohol, depend on a what flavour pizza is to be eaten. When the mother (= ‘special two-thirds majority instead of a simple majority. interests’) can also suggest a pizza, after which everyone (also the children = the voters) can vote on the proposals, then this All these counter-initiatives were designed to sow confu- can never make the children’s situation worse, even if they sion. The voters were finally confronted with a cluttered list cannot suggest a pizza themselves. The option proposed by of 27 complicated initiatives and counter-initiatives, which the father is always available, but if mother has an even better resulted in what became known as the ‘Big NO’: 23 of the idea, that can be given preference in the voting. “So we can 27 proposals were rejected, also including the original, pro- see that allowing everyone in the family to make proposals gressive proposals that could actually count on a lot of public generally works to the advantage of the majority. The conclu- sympathy. This is an example of a common phenomenon: sion stands even if the right to make proposals is reserved for voters are cautious and, if in doubt, will reject a proposal. certain family members. (…) As long as proposals are filtered “Voters simply throw their hands up in despair and vote ‘no’ through a majority-rule election, the only way initiatives make on everything.” (Shultz, 1996, p. 84) the majority worse off is if voters can be persuaded to approve policies contrary to their interest.” (Matsusaka, 2004, p. 12). These experiences teach us an important lesson: if business is able to invade democratic life, democracy breaks down. Dur- In her study ‘The populist paradox’ (1999), the political sci- ing the course of the democratic decision-making process, the entist Elisabeth Gerber systematically examined the extent to citizens must decide the legal boundaries within which the which ‘special interests’ can push through their own agenda commercial sector can operate. These must be just as inflexi- by using a lot of money. She analysed the cash flows of 168 ble as geographical or geological boundaries, for example; they citizens’ initiatives in eight American states. In contrast to must protect people’s dignity and prevent attempts to corrupt what critics claim, powerful commercial interests appear to them. The debate or image-forming process is the true centre- have relatively little success in obtaining approval of a law piece of democracy and should therefore be played out in an they desire by means of popular referendum. Initiatives that open forum and should not be able to be bought out. were financially supported mainly by individual citizens were almost twice as often adopted as initiatives that were finan- It is not the voters’ fault. There have been various attempts cially supported mainly by economic special-interest groups to hold at bay the effect of money on the progress of the (in reality, the number of citizens’ initiatives that are support- debate. In 1974, Californians approved a citizens’ initiative ed entirely by economic special-interest groups or individual (Proposition 9) that limited the campaign expenditure for citizens is very small). The large majority of the popular votes referendums. Two years later, however, this provision was relate to citizens’ initiatives. (p. 111-112). Gerber concludes: overturned by the US Supreme Court, which argued that “The empirical evidence provides further basis for rejecting putting money into a campaign was part of the freedom of the allegation that economic interest groups buy policy out- speech guaranteed by the first article of the US constitution. comes through the direct legislation process.” (p. 138) Thus it is currently impossible to impose a limit on campaign expenditure for direct-democratic decision-making Gerber shows that economic special-interest groups, how- in the USA, unless the federal constitution is amended or ever, do have some success in forcing the failure of citizens’ interpreted differently.

56 The Supreme Court did accept limits for representative candi- via the Ballot Pamphlet, and distributing this document itself date elections, because they are open to the risk of corruption, in a neat, readable format by means of newspaper advertise- but corruption cannot play a part in popular voting on a public ments was an efficient remedy. issue, because it is the voters themselves who decide. On 18 December 1996, the opponents of ‘big money’ gained a sur- Up until 1992, citizens’ initiatives could still rely on the ‘Fair- prising victory with the approval of Proposition 208: 61.8% of ness doctrine’ that was adopted by the Federal Communica- the turnout voted in favour of the introduction of a ceiling to tions Commission in 1949. According to this doctrine, radio expenses for representative elections. Up until that time there and television should provide reasonable opportunities to the was no such legal limitation in California. The initiative takers representatives of opposing viewpoints on controversial pub- cited the example of a candidate in the Californian parliamen- lic issues to publicise their points of view. This fairness doc- tary elections who, having been handed another 125,000 dol- trine was contested for many years by the owners of broad- lars from a tobacco company a week before the vote, finally won casting stations, and the FCC finally relented in 1992: the by the tiny margin of 597 votes. The Ballot Pamphlet (informa- Fairness doctrine was no longer legally applicable to citizens’ tion booklet) for Proposition 208 stated: ‘When big-moneyed initiatives. The ‘ballot pamphlet’, which every voter receives special interests win, the people lose!’ However, Proposition before the citizens’ initiative is voted on, currently remains 208 was also subsequently contested in court. During the pro- the only reliable source of reasonably balanced information ceedings, another group launched Proposition 34, wanting to and the question can be asked whether this is sufficient. withdraw Proposition 208 and setting less stringent limitations on campaign donations. This was accepted by more than The enactment of approved initiatives 60% of the voters in November 2000. In California (just like in Switzerland) most of the citizens’ Publication of the sources of funding was also targeted. In propositions are rejected by the voters. Only 34% of the ini- 1988, the Californian voters accepted Proposition 105, which tiatives meet with success. stipulated that the major financiers must be disclosed in advertisements for an election campaign. This statute re- Remarkably enough, this does not mean that in 34% of cases mained in force for several years and was extremely effective. the approved proposal is also actually enacted. A proposal For example, advertisements against the ‘Nickel per drink’ that has been approved by a majority of the citizens can still initiative always reported: “... funded by the Beer Institute, be entirely or partially sunk subsequently. Politicians have the Wine Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council”. The various means of achieving this. In the first place, a proposal industry nevertheless succeeded in having Proposition 105 approved by referendum can be contested afterwards in the declared legally void. It seems that the industrial financiers courts. This frequently happens in California, and in more of political advertisements often conceal themselves behind than a few cases such a legal action results in the whole or meaningless or misleading names (see below). In 1997, how- partial setting aside of the approved proposal. In other cases, ever, the Californian senate passed a law (SB 49) that stipu- the approved proposal is simply not carried out by the author- lates that each campaign committee that spends more than ities. Elisabeth Gerber and others, in the book “Stealing the 100,000 dollars on its citizens’ initiative – in practice that is initiative” (2001), examine the phenomenon whereby those every committee – should submit an electronic account of in power nevertheless emasculate or get round undesirable its spending, which will be published on the website of the popular decisions by the use of various manoeuvres. The Californian authorities. authors studied the implementation of ten propositions that were approved by the people in California by referendum, in An example of the efficiency of objective advertising was pro- order to conclude: “It is clear that government actors retain a vided in 1988, when the tobacco industry came up with an ini- great deal of discretion over what happens to initiatives after tiative that was aimed at relaxing the restrictions on smoking, they pass” (p. 110). In fact, many popular decisions are only which are very extensive in California. However, the tobacco partially converted, and in some cases their execution is even barons presented their initiative as a proposal to limit smok- effectively withheld entirely. ing that came from a fictitious organisation, which was called ‘Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions’ (CASSR). A striking example is the ‘English only’ initiative (Proposi- When it became clear that a large proportion of the public was tion 63), which wanted to declare English as the only official threatened with deception, the California Wellness Foundation language of California, and which was approved by 73.2% of and the Public Media Center published a plain advertisement the voters in 1986. Yet the proposal was never implemented. that only contained quotes from the Ballot Pamphlet plus the Official election documents in San Francisco remained mul- list of the most important sponsors for and against. The Bal- tilingual, with Spanish and Chinese in addition to English. In lot Pamphlet stated: “The proposed measure would lead to 1987, the Democratic Party even launched a legislative pro- less restrictions for smokers than is currently the case under posal which would drastically hamper lodging a complaint on the existing legislation.” Important financiers of the initiative the basis of the approved proposition. However, this legisla- identified included: Philip Morris USA, Reynolds Tobacco Co, tive proposal was not approved after opponents of it sounded and a few other tobacco manufacturers. The most important the alarm on the issue and the Democrats, fearing a loss of financiers of the resistance against Proposition 188 identified votes, backed down. The related Proposition 227, also called in the advertisement were: The American Cancer Society, The ‘English only’, was approved by 60.9% of the votes in 1998. American Lung Association, The American Heart Association Fundamentally, this proposition proposed that the ‘bilingual and The American Medical Association. The publication of education’ in many of the state’s public schools must be ter- these plain facts in a clear, graphically well presented full-page minated and that the children who did not speak English advertisement enabled the Californian voters to realise imme- (most of whom speak Spanish), must undergo an ‘English im- diately what was going on, and Proposition 188 was squashed mersion’ in the school. In school districts where this measure with a humiliating 70%/30% defeat. This example demon- could count on broad support it was also implemented. But strates that a serious danger of deception can arise specifically in other places the initiative had absolutely no impact. In San coming from commercial interests. Exposing the financiers Francisco, for example, only 38.3% of the voters agreed with

57 the proposition and the highest official responsible for the lo- A limited form of direct democracy already existed at state cal public school network coolly declared that the proposition level in Bavaria prior to 1995. Citizens could launch legislative would not be implemented. This was despite the fact that the initiatives and force a referendum on them. The threshold for initiative was approved at state level and the equality principle using this system was exceptionally high, however. In an initial requires that the proposal be equally applied throughout the phase, 25,000 signatures had to be collected. Only then could entire state. In fact, the fate of Proposition 227 shows that the an application for a referendum be submitted. If the Ministry legislator should not meddle with internal education issues. of Internal Affairs [Innenministerium] formulated objections to If the state leaves such choices to the schools, they can select the initiative, the Constitutional Court had to give a ruling on for each issue what seems the best for themselves, and the it. If the court saw no objections, there was a further stage, state does not need to impose a uniform regime. during which 10% of those entitled to vote (around 900,000 citizens) had to go to their local government offices within a In 1990, the voters approved Proposition 140. This proposal two-week period to record their signatures as supporters of the introduced, on the one hand, term limits for members of par- popular initiative. This second threshold was virtually unach- liament and, on the other, also scaled back the funds for the ievable, so that referendums almost never took place in Bavar- members of parliament to approximately 80% of the previous ia at the state level. The 1995 referendum was only the fourth level. The objective of the initiative was to combat the creation to be held since the Second World War. Moreover, politics in of a class of lifelong professional politicians. Term limits limit Bavaria was and remains dominated by one political party, the the time during which a person can occupy a legislative and/ Christian-democratic CSU (Christian Social Union). or executive political office. Proposition 140 imposed a maximum term of six to eight years. Of course such a proposal The story of ‘Mehr Demokratie’ (More Democracy) – the cannot count on the approval of the members of parliament movement that created a breakthrough for direct democracy themselves. It is, however, effectively impossible to actually in Bavaria, including that via the 1995 referendum – is the circumvent term limits once they have been approved. The story of a double success. ‘Mehr Demokratie’ succeeded in political leaders in California have exhausted all possible legal clearing the highest hurdles required to obtain a referendum remedies without success in the hope of reversing the term in Bavaria. But ‘Mehr Demokratie’ also succeeded in winning limits. The last judgment was finally handed down in 1997. In against the opposition of the CSU, which stubbornly resisted the meantime, thanks to the approved proposition, the mem- the introduction of direct democracy at the municipal level. bers of parliament and those in top positions had already been It was the first CSU defeat at the state level in 40 years. entirely replaced. The established powers had more success with their attempts at reversing the financial restrictions in- The introduction of direct democracy in Bavaria can be con- troduced by Proposition 140. Via the courts they succeeded in sidered as being like an oil slick spilling over from Switzer- overturning of the reduction in excessive pension provisions land. The fact that referendums were possible in Bavaria at for top politicians that had been approved by the people. Oth- all, even if with far too high a threshold, is quite likely due er restrictions from Proposition 140 were left untouched by to the fact that the first Bavarian Prime Minister, Wilhelm the courts, but the political class swiftly succeeded in circum- Hoegner, was in exile in Switzerland during WWII and venting the law by changing their accounting methods: “By learned to appreciate the system there. Afterwards, he was reclassifying agencies and moving their budgets outside the instrumental in putting the referendum into the Bavarian realm of formal legislative spending, the legislature largely constitution. Hoegner said in 1950: “The referendum is the circumvented the intent behind Proposition 140’s spending cornerstone of modern democratic municipal legislation”. limits. In doing so, they not only managed to maintain their (Meyer and Seipel, 1997, p. 12) political staffs, they also retained the services of the agencies whose funding they cut.” (Gerber, 2001, p. 54-55) The campaign for the 10% signatures A recent example (not treated in Gerber’s book) of the arro- Between 6 and 19 February, ‘Mehr Demokratie’ had to sur- gance that politicians can demonstrate with respect to demo- mount an enormous hurdle. Within these two weeks, 10% of cratically taken decisions was provided when the Californian the people entitled to vote had to hurry to their local govern- parliament approved a law that wanted to recognise same- ment offices, during opening hours, to add their signatures sex marriages in that state. A referendum (Proposition 22) to support the application for the municipal citizens’ ini- on this question was held in March 2000 and a majority of tiative. This very high threshold was comfortably exceeded: 61.4% decided that a legal marriage could only take place be- 13.7% of the Bavarians entitled to vote (or nearly 1.2 million tween a man and a woman. Despite this, the Californian par- people) made the effort. The result is even more remarkable liament subsequently did approved a law that allows same- when one considers the resistance from the official side that sex marriages. Governor Schwarzenegger, however, used existed in many places. For instance, many citizens were not his veto against this parliamentary act, saying that the will able to register their support because their local government of the people must be respected. Naturally, he was branded offices appeared to be closed during the legally stipulated as ‘extreme right-wing’ for this by his opponents. However, opening hours. Schwarzenegger left the possibility open that popular decisions could still be reversed by the courts. The reaction of the press was mainly positive, except for those newspapers which traditionally backed the CSU. The Münch- ner Merkur (Munich Mercury) newspaper of 21 February 1995 Germany: Bavaria and beyond wrote condescendingly: “Jubilation about the fact that the ‘Mehr Demokratie in Bayern’ popular initiative achieved the October 1st 1995 was an important day for European democ- threshold would be inappropriate. In principle, Bavaria has racy. On that day, the citizens of Bavaria voted to grant them- enjoyed democratic rights for a long time. Every citizen can selves many more rights to direct decision-making at the withdraw support from a municipal councillor or a municipal levels of cities, municipalities and administrative districts council group at the next elections if they don’t like the deci- (Landkreisen) (Seipel and Mayer, 1997). sions coming from the administration...” On the same day, the

58 Main-Post newspaper prophesied: “After the successful ‘Mehr open the door to the rule of demagogues and vociferous Demokratie in Bayern’ initiative, the CSU will use its well- minority groups. The CSU even suggested that the ‘Mehr known tactics: they will adopt the citizens’ initiative proposals Demokratie’ proposal would pose a threat to the ringing of as their own motto, but will come up with a counter proposal church bells or to the popular ‘Oktoberfests’. The CSU predict- that in practice doesn’t do any damage to the ruling party”. ed permanent electoral conflict and continuous uncertainty, making it impossible for the authorities to carry out long-term Ruling by fear planning (with job losses as a result) and introduce ‘unpopular’ measures, etc.; all this would be the result of allowing the In 1991, a previous citizens’ initiative in Bavaria, ‘Das bessere ‘Mehr Demokratie’ proposal to be upheld. At local level, the Müllkonzept’, which proposed a reform of the waste disposal power of the party machine came into play (e.g. by refusing to policy, actually managed the 10% threshold, but nonethe- make municipal premises available for meetings). less narrowly lost the battle against the CSU in the resulting referendum. Now that the signature threshold had been In essence, ‘Mehr Demokratie’ was able to neutralise the CSU achieved, ‘Mehr Demokratie’ began to examine how the previ- campaign because it knew what the CSU was up to. The ous citizens’ initiative was brought down by the CSU. most significant factor in their counter-offensive was that they were able to find all sorts of organisations (political par- One of the conclusions was that the CSU ultimately achieved ties, social organisations, youth groups, even CSU members the result thanks to its grassroots support in the rural areas. in favour of Mehr Demokratie), which were trusted by large In the towns and cities where the citizens’ initiative campaign groups of citizens and which were prepared to speak out was active, it often achieved a majority; but in the rural ar- publicly in favour of the citizens’ initiative and against the eas there was frequently no counterbalance against the CSU CSU counterproposal. propaganda. The most important conclusion, however, was that the CSU systematically played on fear. Prepared speech- An important lesson from the ‘Das bessere Müllkonzept’ defeat es were part of a campaign package distributed by the CSU was that they must not allow the CSU to take the initiative in to their municipal council groups that held ruling majorities the debate. One of the CSU tactics consisted of constantly har- in all the 2,000 municipalities, towns and cities in Bavaria. assing the opponent with allegations which had to be disproved In these speeches, statements such as the following could be time and time again, so that they could never speak about the found: “... if your small kitchen has no room for six dustbins, real reason for the referendum. The CSU attempted, for in- you can start knocking down half the walls right away”, while stance, to accuse ‘Mehr Demokratie’ of financial fraud. This oc- the segregated refuse collection was portrayed as making it curred at a strategically selected moment: just two weeks be- essential that the municipalities set up intermediate storage fore the referendum. If, during these last two weeks, the CSU areas, which were depicted as “... a fine stinking mess with had succeeded in focusing the public debate on the finances fires, poisonous effluent and thousands of rats”. of ‘Mehr Demokratie’, this could have been fatal to the citizens’ initiative. Citizens’ donations to ‘Mehr Demokratie’ were paid Bavarian legislation provides that, if a citizens’ initiative into an account in Munich, from which, because of the inter- achieves the 10% threshold, the Bavarian parliament may nal organisation of the bank concerned, the money was then submit a counterproposal, which will then be put to the vote transferred to Cologne. ‘Mehr Demokratie’ had nothing to do together with the citizens’ initiative. The CSU had, and still with this, but the CSU suggested in the press that the funds has, an absolute majority in the state parliament and is there- were being drained out of Bavaria and were therefore being fore able to submit a counterproposal that effectively waters used for other purposes. The citizens’ initiative countered this down the citizens’ initiative and around which the party attack by immediately opening all its books to inspection. As propaganda is then organised. In this way, the CSU was ulti- they were completely in order, the CSU allegations backfired. mately able to torpedo the new waste disposal initiative. The The press then goaded the CSU to come up with rather more Christian Democrats launched a seriously watered-down professional arguments before voting day. counterproposal, steered it through the parliament and, after a cunning campaign, obtained a majority of 51% in the refer- The referendum vote took place on 1st October 1995. The endum (against 44% for the original proposal from the ‘Das ‘Mehr Demokratie’ proposal gained 57.8% of the votes, bessere Müllkonzept’ initiative). against 38.7% for the CSU counter-proposal. That victory is what made it possible to organise citizens’ initiative referen- The CSU now used the same tactics against ‘Mehr Demokra- dums at the local level. tie’. Once again, the CSU launched a counterproposal. This counterproposal excluded numerous issues from citizens’ Flourishing democracy decisions (for example, no municipal citizens’ initiatives concerning construction projects would be possible); the CSU In the 10 years that followed, a flourishing system of direct-de- proposal required a 25% participation quorum for the citi- mocracy emerged in Bavaria (Rehmet and Wenisch, 2005). In zens’ referendums (with a lower than 25% turnout, the ref- the municipalities, 1371 citizens’ initiatives were registered up erendum result would be void; see chapter 2 about the nega- to September 2005, which in 835 cases (60.9%) led to a refer- tive effects of participation quorums); the signatures could endum. In the remaining cases, the citizens’ initiative was not not be gathered freely in the CSU proposal, but the citizens allowed for a variety of reasons (14.2%), was adopted by the would have to go to the local government offices to sign, etc. municipal council (12.5%), was withdrawn by the citizens, or The intention was clear: by introducing as many hurdles and not submitted (10.1%). The highest number of citizens’ initia- limitations as possible, they wanted to make it as difficult as tives was launched in the Bavarian capital Munich (15), with possible for direct citizens’ decisions to be achieved. Augsburg (12) in second place. The annual number of citizens’ initiatives peaked at 318 in 1996, gradually decreasing to At the same time, the CSU started to fan the flames of fear. settle at a stable average of around 100 per year between 1999 Their slogan was: “Don’t let a minority block everything’”. Ac- and 2005. There was obviously some overdue maintenance cording to the CSU, the ‘Mehr Demokratie’ proposal would required that caused the enormous wave of citizens’ initia-

59 tives immediately after the introduction of the new system. duction of a new dictatorship. In this case, however, it was (In Germany, one speaks of citizens’ initiatives at municipal used to protect the domineering politicians against greater level and of popular initiatives at state and federal level.) democratic rights for the population. In March 2000, the Constitutional Court ruled that “democracy” was the same In terms of the subjects of these referendums, three emerge as the representative system and that it could be damaged, head and shoulders above the rest: because the popular initiative was asking for the abolition of • public infrastructure and public utility companies (23%) some exceptions, and for a reduction of the signature thresh- • development plans (23%) old, etc. Previously, in September 1999, the Constitutional • road and traffic projects (20%) Court had already seized on a citizen’s complaint about a referendum result in order to set a higher approval quorum of In the period from 1995 to 2005, a municipal council’s posi- 25% for referendums at the state level (promptly introduced tion was more often ratified by the citizens (49%) than re- by the Landtag), again referring to the “basic democratic jected (45%); the remaining cases could not be classified as principles” of Section 75. either one or the other. A municipal proposal therefore has an almost one in two chance of not surviving the citizens’ But the Constitutional Court also pursued its attack at the vote. The average turnout during this period amounted to al- local level. In 1999, again following a citizen’s complaint, most 50 percent; turnout is proportionately higher the fewer the Court had ruled that “basic democratic principles” also residents a municipality has. demanded the introduction of a participation quorum for the municipal referendum, which had been abolished by the ref- As stated previously, in some cases, the threat of a referen- erendum that Mehr Demokratie had won. The quorum had dum was sufficient for an undesirable council decision to be thus been re-introduced. When Mehr Demokratie launched scrapped. Rehmet and Wenisch (2005, p. 5) give an example the popular initiative ‘Protection of the municipal referen- from Augsburg, where a coalition of professors, teachers and dum’ to reverse the reintroduction of the participation quo- bookshop owners collected signatures for the opening of a rum, the Constitutional Court was not able to (mis)use the new town library. When they submitted a collection of many “basic democratic principles” argument again. After all, they more signatures than the minimum requirement, the mu- would have needed to use this reason to reject Mehr Demokra- nicipal council rapidly adopted their plan. tie’s first popular initiative in 1994. This time, therefore, the Court had the principle of municipal autonomy up its Resistance from the courts sleeve: the abolition of a municipal participation quorum via a state law. The perversity of this argument should be clear. However, the ruling class does not simply allow this situation In Germany, the federal states have the power to organise to exist unchallenged. In addition to the opposition from the local democracy. Democratic rules, including those for citi- CSU politicians, Mehr Demokratie had to face even greater zens’ initiatives and referendums, must always be regulated resistance from the Bavarian Constitutional Court. In Ba- in state laws. The Constitutional Court – a state institution varia, judges are appointed by the (CSU-dominated) state – was therefore intervening in the municipal state of affairs parliament (Landtag), so 80 percent of the judges are CSU itself with its decision on municipal approval/participation supporters or sympathisers. Constitutional Court rulings are quorums. But if a citizens’ initiative wants do this, there is final because there is no possibility of appeal. suddenly talk of a serious violation. The situation is even more depressing if we consider that the principle of munici- At the same time as the popular initiative to improve the ref- pal autonomy was originally introduced to give local citizens erendum system at the municipal level was launched, Mehr as much control as possible over their own community. The Demokratie had also started a second popular initiative to im- same principle was now being used high-handedly by politi- prove direct democracy at the state level. These were both cians in order to actually reduce that control. submitted within a short space of time in 1994. The second popular initiative was challenged by the Bavarian senate on In all, out of the five popular initiatives launched by Mehr far-fetched legal grounds and therefore had to be presented Demokratie between 1995 and 2000, three were blocked by to the Constitutional Court. Everyone expected that the par- the Constitutional Court, and one – without the support of liament’s objections would be rejected, or in any case that any relevant legislation – was subjected to far-reaching ob- most of the components of the popular initiative would re- struction by cutting it into two popular initiatives and subse- main intact. But in an unparalleled argument, the CSU judg- quently requiring citizens to go to the town hall on separate es declared the entire popular initiative to be invalid. “Utterly occasions to add their signatures. Mehr Demokratie only had incomprehensible”, the south-German newspaper Süddeut- the capacity to persevere with one initiative and that failed to sche Zeitung wrote in an editorial on 15 November 1994, and achieve the sky-high second signature threshold. voiced the suspicion “that the Constitutional Court, with the majority of its judges nominated and appointed by the CSU, hands down judgements that it believes will meet with the Germany: Hamburg approval of the CSU-controlled state government.” Hamburg was the second place in Germany where Mehr In 1999, Mehr Demokratie once again submitted a popular in- Demokratie succeeded in allowing citizens themselves to de- itiative for the improvement of the referendum at state level. cide about their direct democracy (Efler, 2001). Hamburg, This time they had formulated their initiative in such a way with 1.7 million inhabitants and Germany’s second largest that it would not be subject to the same veto. This time the city, is a city-state: a city with the status of a state. Constitutional Court wheeled out Section 75 of the Bavarian Constitution, which reads: “Proposals for amending the con- In 1996, the Hamburg parliament, inspired by the emer- stitution that are contrary to the basic democratic principles gence of referendums everywhere in Germany, had intro- of the constitution are not allowed.” This section had once duced the binding citizens’ initiative referendum at city level. been introduced to protect the population against the intro- The thresholds and exceptions were so extensive, however,

60 that the system could hardly be used. More or less anything recovered rapidly and lobbied the members of parliament to concerning finance was excluded, as were town planning combine the elections and the referendums on the grounds proposals and one-off development proposals. The latter ex- that a lot of citizens’ time and public money (because of the cluded, for example, major projects such as the expansion higher costs) would otherwise be wasted. The lobbying was of the port or the construction of an additional tunnel under successful and the referendums were eventually combined the Elbe river. In order to obtain a referendum, no less than with the parliamentary elections of 27 September 1998. 10 percent of the people entitled to vote had to go to the town hall to submit their signatures within 2 weeks. At city level In the meantime, as in Bavaria, Mehr Demokratie had put to- there was a virtually unachievable approval quorum: citizens’ gether a large coalition of all kinds of – mostly small – social initiatives which contained an ordinary legislative proposal organisations. Nevertheless, they had to take on the two ma- must, besides gaining a simple majority of the votes, also be jor parties in Hamburg – the SPD and CDU – as well as the approved by 25 percent of all the people entitled to vote, while chamber of commerce and the powerful Bild-Zeitung news- citizens’ initiatives that wanted to change the constitution not paper belonging to the Springer group. The combined op- only had to secure a two- thirds majority of the votes, but also position beat their big drums with slogans such as: “Minori- be approved by 50 percent of all the people entitled to vote. ties will be bullied”, “Referendums with low turnouts lead to sham democracy”, “The port and airport will be paralyzed by Mehr Demokratie then decided once again to use the bad ref- tighter noise legislation” and “The beginning of a fatal devel- erendum instrument to obtain a better referendum. Together opment”. Newspaper advertisements warned that an ‘activ- with several local partners, it drew up two citizens’ initiatives: ists’ dictatorship’ would be introduced if the Mehr Demokratie one for the introduction of direct democracy at the district proposals were to be adopted. “No ‘argument’ was too primi- level, and a second for improving the existing system at the tive not to be brought out”, writes Efler (2001). city level. Because the second citizens’ initiative required a constitutional amendment – and thus the sky-high authori- In Hamburg, the parliament has the right to put a counter- sation quorum had to be obtained – the activists aimed to proposal to the vote at the same time as the citizens’ ini- combine their referendum with the national parliamentary tiative. The parliament presented its counter-proposal only elections of 1998. The beginning was laborious; there were four weeks before the referendum. The citizens’ initiative only a couple of thousand marks (about one thousand eu- wanted referendums on ordinary laws to be decided by a ros) as initial capital and some of the partner organisations simple majority and constitutional amendments by a two- wanted to postpone the entire campaign to the future. Collec- thirds’ majority, with no further turnout requirements. In tion of the first 20,000 signatures required could only com- the parliamentary counter-proposal, the high thresholds mence in May 1997, and the activists had to hurry if they mainly remained intact: ordinary laws had be adopted by still wanted to combine the initiative with the elections. This a majority that constituted at least 20 percent of all those time pressure actually seemed to work to their advantage. entitled to vote, and amendments to the constitution by a The majority of the signatures were finally collected in the two-thirds’ majority that constituted at least 40 percent of second half of the campaign. By autumn 1997, no less than all eligible voters. Thus if 70 percent voted for an amend- 30,000 signatures had been gathered for submission. At the ment to the constitution, the turnout would have to be al- discussions in the parliament, several members of the parlia- most 60 percent to reach the 40 percent minimum share ment said that they considered the citizens’ initiatives to be of the total eligible electorate. The citizens’ initiative wanted contrary to the constitution. But the stipulated period within to partly abolish the taboo on financial matters, whereas the which the initiatives should have been presented to the Con- parliamentary counter-proposal wanted to exclude all sub- stitutional Court for its ruling was allowed to expire. jects that had an effect on the budget. “What important issue nowadays has no effect on the budget?”, Efler asked (2001). Thus the initiative moved into its second stage, in which 10 Because the subject and the differences between the two percent of the eligible voters (120,000 people) had to go to proposals were quite technical, and there was little time for the town hall or the municipal offices to give their signatures a full campaign because of the parliament’s delaying tactics, in the two weeks from 9 to 23 March 1998. Mehr Demokratie Mehr Demokratie focussed on highlighting the differences was helped because the municipal authorities sent a postcard and comparing the two proposals point for point, adding the to all those entitled to vote announcing the citizens’ initia- question: Why would politicians surrender power voluntar- tives and saying where and when the signatures of support ily? Mehr Demokratie also made its campaign very visual: it could be given. On the back of the postcard was an example used images of ballot papers marked in support of the initia- of how to express support by post. This provision had, inci- tives in its newspaper and cinema advertisements and on dentally, been approved in the 1996 law and was completely posters which were put up on referendum day in front of unique in Germany. The atmosphere was quite tense be- all the polling stations. On voting day, 27 September 1998, cause the municipal authorities only wanted to make a single 74.0% of the voters voted for the Mehr Demokratie proposals announcement of the intermediate position at the end of the at the city level, and 60.0% for the same at the district level. first week. However, the second stage was a resounding suc- The turnout was 66.7%. This meant that the high approval cess: by the first intermediate position (after 5 days), 85,000 quorum was reached for the referendum at the district level, citizens had already supported the initiatives and at the close because it would be introduced by means of an ordinary law, of signature collection on 23 March, the number had risen to but not for the referendum at the city level, for which the more than 218,000 (18.1% of the people entitled to vote) for constitution had to be amended. The parliament’s delaying the first initiative (for referendums at the district level) and tactics meant that voters received their referendum material more than 222,000 (18.4%) for the second initiative (direct – which could also be used for a postal vote – much later democracy at the city level). that that for the simultaneous parliamentary elections. Mehr Demokratie subsequently calculated that if the referendum At first, the city council had wanted to hold the referendums material had been sent at the same time as the election ma- shortly after the national parliamentary elections. This was terial, the approval quorum would also have been obtained initially a setback for the people at Mehr Demokratie, but they for the proposal for the city level.

61 Partly thanks to its successes in Bavaria and Hamburg, the rebels launched a second citizens’ initiative. KWR supported Mehr Demokratie movement has spread throughout the the opponents of the alternative energy initiative with sub- whole of Germany. The movement now has branches in 13 of stantial funds and a specially arranged ‘information office’. the 16 German states. Its campaigns, publicity and lobbying But the power rebels were victorious a second time, though played a major role in the introduction of the binding citi- by a narrower margin: in March 1996, 52.4% of the voters zens’ initiative referendum in all states and municipalities in agreed that the cooperation between the Schönau municipal- Germany, even if the rules governing them vary enormously ity and KWR should be ended. in quality. In addition, Mehr Demokratie has managed to win over a majority of the German parliament to the idea of in- The power company then played its final trump card: it asked troducing direct democracy at the federal level in Germany, for 8.7 million marks for the sale of the local infrastructure, though it does not yet have the two-thirds’ majority that is instead of the 4.5 million marks which the citizens’ initiative necessary for an amendment to the constitution. For more experts had estimated. In November 1996, after two years information see: www.mehr-demokratie.de. of denial, KWR admitted that Schönau actually only had 22 kilometres of cabling rather than the 33 claimed, and the asking price dropped from 8.7 million to 6.5 million marks. Germany: Schönau The power rebels from Schönau then conducted a campaign across the whole of Germany to collect the rest of the money, After the environmental disaster with the nuclear power sta- under the slogan: “Ich bin ein Störfall” (“I am a hazardous tion at Chernobyl in April 1986, a citizens’ initiative called incident”). At the same time, they continued their legal battle the ‘Parents’ initiative for a nuclear-free future’ was launched against the company to get the unreasonable price lowered. in Schönau, a Black Forest village with 2,500 inhabitants. On 1 July 1997, the electricity company set up by the citizens The aim was to promote more moderate consumption of officially took over the local electricity grid for a price of 5.8 power without the use of atomic energy. There were some million marks. small successes, but the campaigners soon realised that they could achieve very little without controlling the power sup- Since then, EWS Schönau has proven itself to be a pro- ply themselves. After all, the regional power supplier, KWR, fessional and reliable energy supplier, even in the eyes of set the electricity rates, and energy saving and decentralised former opponents. The managing director of the company energy production would be unprofitable for it. is Ursula Sladek, one of the original initiative group. The amount of solar energy produced per head of population is When the contract between the municipality and the electric- the highest in Germany and nuclear power has been entirely ity company came up for renewal, the power struggle began. banned. Among other buildings, the roofs of the town hall The citizens’ initiative had developed its own plan for envi- and the Lutheran church in Schönau are completely covered ronmentally friendly energy production and distribution, and with solar panels. Due to the liberalisation of the power mar- therefore wanted to take over the local electricity grid from ket, EWS can now supply customers throughout Germany. KWR. To do this, they set up the ‘Netzkauf Schönau’ (Schönau Since 1998, the Schönau power rebels have also been pro- Grid Purchase) umbrella organisation. However, the munici- viding support to initiatives in the rest of Germany that want pal council still decided to renew the contract with KWR. to switch to eco-power. They have cooperated in the creation of a network of no less than 697 German eco-power produc- In order to win the right to acquire the local electricity grid, ers. For every kilowatt of eco-electricity produced, between a ‘Netzkauf Schönau’ launched a referendum in 1991, which half cent and two cents is put into a fund for new eco-power they won with 55.7% of the votes. The acquisition of the grid producers. This has enabled EWS to donate 900,000 euros and the installation of an ecological energy policy appeared over the last three years. And in July 2005, a court ruled that to be possible. Citizens not only from Schönau, but from the even the reduced KWR sale price of 5.8 million marks was whole of Germany, collected the four million marks need- too much: the real value of the local grid was only 3.5 mil- ed to buy the local grid. In 1994, the local company “Ele- lion marks (1.8 million Euros) and KWR had to refund the ktrizitätswerke Schönau GmbH” (EWS – Schönau Electricity difference to EWS. Works) was established, which then received the concession from the municipality. The Schönau example shows that citizens possess significant latent social capital and are prepared to make the effort. However, a broad front of resistance to this change came At the same time, it also demonstrates that direct-democratic into being. It included, naturally enough, the power compa- decision-making is indispensable in order to cash in on this ny KWR, but also the Christian Democratic CDU and large moral capital. If the decisive citizens’ initiative at municipal parts of the socialist SPD. It was also joined by the largest level had not been available to the citizens of Schönau, the employer in the district, who warned of power cuts and high- KWR power company, in collaboration with the municipal er electricity prices if the ‘power rebels’ were allowed to push council, could have simply continued to impose its own will. ahead with their plan. The opponents of the local energy (For more information see: www.ews-schoenau.de)

62 5-1: The art of the citizens’ initiative • The proposal must be drawn up with the public in mind. Does the proposal have a broad appeal? Does it have an Below is a checklist of some basic rules that must be taken Achilles heel? into account when launching a citizens’ initiative. The most • Will the authorities accept the referendum result as bind- important sources are: Jim Shultz, ‘The Initiative Cook- ing? If not, then tying political parties to it can be an op- book’, and Michael Seipel & Thomas Maier, ‘Triumph der tion: get them to promise to accept the result well before Bürger!’ (The Citizens’ Triumph!). the referendum. • If there is a victory in the referendum, can the result be General rules contested in the courts? (Obtain legal advice)

• Usually, the side that convinces the undecided or floating Coalition voters wins. • The strongest force behind the politics of the referendum is • A coalition which includes unusual allies strengthens the public discontent. One should carefully establish whether credibility of the initiative (e.g. ‘conservative’ and ‘progres- there is discontent and whether this can be mobilised. sive’ political parties, employers and employees, etc.) • Referendum initiatives usually have majority public back- • The core partners of the coalition must be available from ing to begin with. This tends to drop off during the cam- the start. paign under pressure from the opponents. A slide from a • Good agreements between coalition partners about fund- 70% to a 51% support position can happen quite easily; a ing, a common public position, the division of duties and move in the reverse direction is far harder. the appointment of spokesmen and -women are essential. • Referendums are lost on the weakest point in the proposal. If the proposal has a weak point somewhere, the op- Signature collection ponents will focus on that and exaggerate the weakness. Voters have very little inclination to vote for a proposal • Shultz writes: “The Zen of signature gathering is, don’t that has an obvious weak point, even when the main body argue with anyone.” Signature collection and campaign- of the proposal is sound. ing are therefore best done separately. Being tempted into • Polarisation is inevitable. The voters must clearly see who a discussion lasting a quarter of an hour or more with one is for and against the proposal and why. or more passers-by is not an efficient use of time during • Being able to show that ones opponents have a financial a signature gathering campaign. You have to try to maxi- interest in the outcome is an extraordinarily effective way mize productivity when collecting signatures. of winning support. • Make the link to the next step in the campaign. Signa- ture collection enables the volunteers to build up some re- Questions at the outset serves of effort and commitment. If these reserves are ne- glected when the signature threshold has been achieved, • Is there sufficient public support? Opinion polls can be used, it makes it more difficult to remobilise the real campaign but remember that public opinion is fickle and can change. some months later. • Is there a simple, winning message? Compare the oppo- • Monitor the validity of the signatures. Signatures can be nents’ possible message or key slogan with your own. obtained from people with the wrong place of residence or • How strong is the support base? Are there enough organi- nationality, or names and addresses can be unreadable or sations that can step into the spotlight? Are the organisa- wrong. You should take an invalidity rate of 10% to 20% tions that the public would naturally expect to support the into account. initiative also actually in favour of it? • Arrange a media event for the submission of the signatures. • Is there any money? Fundraising must start early. The funding must be clear and understandable. It must also The campaign be realistic and the accounts must always be up to date and readily available (e.g. for the media). • “Keep it simple and repeat the central message over and • Is there expertise readily available? Ensure that there are over again.” enough people capable of dealing with technical problems • Also appeal to people’s emotions. Someone who appears or political disturbances during debates and speeches. both expertly and emotionally committed comes across • Is it possible to take advantage of any general or local elec- well. tions? Holding the referendum at the same time as elec- • Retain a strong hold on the initiative during debates. Any- tions can help to increase turnout – important if there are one who gets pinned down by their opponent on a side- turnout quorums. track has lost. Beware of sneak attacks, particularly on the campaign’s integrity. Phrasing the question • In particular, established parties with power almost always play on public uncertainty and fears and drag up • The initiative/referendum proposal must be clear and unrelated issues. You have to consciously anticipate this. precise. The wording must be unambiguous and the pro- References to foreign precedents in connection with the posal must be made public as early as possible. proposal can be effective in disarming fear scenarios. • The proposal must be drawn up with all the potential • Parties in power will also address the public as individu- allies in mind. Do not include irrelevant aspects that als (‘Your social security’ instead of ‘Our ...’) and link this might frighten off possible allies. The opposite is also to an appeal for confidence in ‘solid values’, meaning the possible: ‘fence sitters’ (organisations that tend to adopt parties in power and their leaders. Remedy: address the a neutral position) can take part in the coalition if certain public as a group of responsible people seeking common aspects that are important to them are included. ground with each other.

63 Germany • Provide the media with documentation: announcement of the initiative, submission of the signatures and suchlike Germany has no form of direct-democratic decision-mak- are good moments. Maintain good contacts with interesting at the national level. Although section 20 of the Ger- ed press people. man constitution reads: “All state power emanates from the people; it is exercised by the people in elections and referen- Ballot brochure dums ...”, the required implementing legislation is lacking. No plebiscites have been held since 1945. As described in • The space on the official brochure is limited. Keep the ar- chapter 5, however, all states and municipalities have in- guments simple and reiterate the key phrases that reflect troduced the popular and citizens’ initiative referendum, the essentials. mostly during the 1990s, and these are used extensively in • Quoting clear statements by scientific authorities or other some places. These referendums are binding. A majority in people in whom the public have faith, for instance, can be the parliament has also been won over for the introduction very effective. of direct democracy at national level, but the necessary two- thirds’ majority for a constitutional amendment has not yet been achieved. 5-2: Referendums and plebiscites in several European countries France Below is a brief summary of the regulations concerning Section 3 of the French constitution – adopted in 1958 national referendums and plebiscites in several European via referendum – reads: “National sovereignty belongs to countries. The most important sources are: B. Kaufmann et the people, which exercises it by means of its representa- al (editors), “Guidebook to direct democracy in Switzerland tives and referendums”. However, there is no popular or and beyond” (2005), and B. Kaufmann and M.D. Waters citizens’ initiative referendum in France. Amendments to (editors), “Direct democracy in Europe” (2004). the constitution, as well as territorial amendments, must in principle be subject to a plebiscite. The initiative for this, Belgium however, can only be taken by the French president or, to a lesser extent, by the parliament (the power of the French Binding referendums are constitutionally excluded in Bel- parliament is weak). The president can also decide to use a gium. Since 1945, only one plebiscite (referendum at the plebiscite on a ‘legislative concept’, which needs parliamen- government’s initiative) has been held. Schemes for citi- tary approval. The vote is not on a fully drafted legislative zens’ initiative referendums only exist at municipal level, proposal, only on a general idea. National referendums are but apart from the fact that these are not binding, the mu- binding. French politicians have regularly promised more nicipal council can also dismiss a request for a referendum. direct democracy; for example, during his re-election cam- For some years, however, there has been a debate about fur- paign of 2002, President Chirac proposed the introduction ther implementation of referendums and support among of popular or citizens’ initiatives at national and municipal the political parties has grown – particularly in Flanders. levels as a future possibility.

Examples Examples In 1950, the Belgians voted on the return of King Leopold The direct election of the president was approved by a ma- III. With a 92.9% turnout, 57.7% voted in favour and 42.3% jority of 62.3% in 1962. In the same year, voters approved against. Algerian independence by 90.8%. The expansion of the Eu- ropean Community was approved by a majority of 68.3% in Denmark 1972. The Maastricht Treaty achieved only a narrow majority of 51.0% in 1992. In 2000, the reduction of the presi- The Danish constitution stipulates that a referendum must dent’s term of office from seven to five years was approved be held in a number of situations, including amendments by 73.2%. to the constitution and the transfer of sovereignty to international bodies such as the European Union. If one third of The United Kingdom the members of parliament request it, a referendum must be held, too. But this right has never been used. All national The UK has no single written constitution – the ‘rules of referendums are binding. However, the country does not the political game’ are contained in laws, conventions and have a citizens’ initiative referendum at any level. At the lo- ‘understandings’. Historically, there was perhaps a fear that cal level, more than 160 non-binding plebiscites have been a formal constitution might challenge parliament’s claim held since 1970. to sovereignty and limit its powers. In recent years, the role of parliament has been significantly weakened in compari- Examples son to that of the government. There is no national popular The Danes approved accession to the European Communi- initiative referendum, but the government does sometimes ty in 1972 (63.4% Yes). In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty was hold plebiscites. At the municipal level, a citizens’ initiative rejected by 50.7% of the votes. The following year, however, referendum allowing citizens to choose the option of direct- Denmark obtained an opt-out on four issues (economic ly electing their mayor was introduced via the Local Gov- and monetary union, Union citizenship, common defence, ernment Act (2000). The Scottish Parliament introduced and justice and home affairs) and the Maastricht Treaty was a public petition system in 1999. Nearly 1000 petitions then accepted with 56.7% yes votes. In 1998, 55.1% also ap- have been submitted to date (March 2006). In February proved the Treaty of Amsterdam. However, in 2000, 53.1% 2004, a revolutionary online e-petition system, including voted against adopting the euro. online signature collection, was launched. In its first year

64 it received 90 petitions. There is a clear public demand for by the parliament. However, the procedure is complex and more direct participation (cf. the separate chapter on direct has never been used yet. As in the majority of European democracy in the U.K.). countries, Irish voters cannot initiate referendums.

Examples Examples In 1973, there was a plebiscite on Northern Ireland. 98.9% Joining the European Community was approved by 83.1% of the voters were in favour of retaining the union with of the votes in a referendum in 1972. Twenty years later, the the United Kingdom (a boycott by the Catholics produced Maastricht Treaty was also approved by referendum with a a low turnout of 58.1%). In 1975, joining the European majority vote of 69.1%. Three referendums took place in Community was approved by a majority of 67.2%. In 1979 1992 on abortion legislation. Through these referendums, and 1997, plebiscites were held on Scottish and Welsh the right to travel abroad with the aim of having an abortion devolution. The 1997 plebiscites approved a separate par- was agreed, as well as the right to distribute information liament for Scotland and an assembly for Wales. Northern about opportunities for abortion. The legalisation of di- Ireland was granted its own assembly in 1998 as part of vorce was approved by referendum with a narrow majority the plebiscite on the ‘Good Friday’ agreement. There have of 50.3% in 1995. In 2001, the Treaty of Nice was rejected, been 33 local referendums on directly-elected mayors and with only 46.1% of the votes in favour. When the other EU in 2005 there was a local plebiscite in Edinburgh on in- countries then put Ireland under pressure, Ireland obtained troducing a congestion charge (74% ‘No’). Prime Minister certain opt-outs and the same treaty was then accepted by Tony Blair has promised that the European Constitution 62.9% of the voters in 2002. and the euro would only be adopted if approved by referendum (plebiscite). Italy Since 1970, Italy has had the binding corrective referen- Hungary dum and this is used extensively. After Switzerland and The Hungarian constitution provides for the optional ref- Liechtenstein, Italy has the most extensive experience with erendum and the popular initiative. However, there is a direct democracy within Europe. The corrective referen- long list of exceptions: the budget, national and nationally dum allows citizens to put a law approved by parliament, established local taxes, public rates, international treaties, or a part of such a law, to a popular vote. The signature dissolving the parliament and local authorities, the coa- threshold is relatively low at 500,000 (1% of the people en- lition agreement, declaring war or a state of emergency, titled to vote) and the signatures can be collected on the deploying the army abroad and within (!) the country, and street. In addition, five regional parliaments can together granting amnesty. Furthermore, the popular initiative force a popular vote. The major problem with the Italian cannot be used to change the direct-democratic instru- referendum is the high authorisation quorum: a law is only ments (a subtle means of the elite having the last word rejected if a majority votes against it and, at the same time, on the democratic system). Referendums are sometimes this majority represents at least 50 per cent of all those en- binding, sometimes ‘consultative’ (non-binding). In 1997, titled to vote. Because of this rule, no less than 20 of the 42 the participation quorum was reduced from 50% to 25% national referendums which took place from 1990 to the of the voters. Without this change, the referendums on end of 2003 were declared invalid. Furthermore, a number NATO membership (1997) and accession to the European of important subjects are excluded, such as taxes, the budg- Union (2003) would both have failed because of too low et and international treaties. The Constitutional Court has a turnout. Since 1989, nine national referendums have considerable freedom to interpret the vaguely formulated been held. At the local level, the referendum is compul- provisions for exceptions. This results in a large number sory in a number of cases and, in other cases, citizens can of blocked referendum initiatives. It is primarily the more request a referendum with signatures of between 10% and important initiatives which fail; on less important or more 25% of the voters (a planetary record!). Here too, several technical subjects, the Constitutional Court is much more important subjects are excluded. Local referendums are likely to allow a popular vote. The absence of a real popu- binding. lar initiative represents a severe restriction on the people’s sovereignty. One peculiarity in Italy is the differing voting Examples behaviour between the North and the South. In the South, In 2004, 51.6% of the voters approved the introduction of turnout is on average 20% lower than in the North. In the dual nationality for certain groups of people. On the same referendum on the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, the day, a second referendum was held in which 65.0% voted northern vote was predominantly republican, the southern for the reversal of the privatisation of hospitals and care fa- one predominantly monarchist. cilities that had already begun. In 2003, 83.8% approved accession to the European Union. Examples Laws approved by parliament, which made divorce impossi- Ireland ble and performing an abortion more difficult, were rejected by the Italian voters. The 1974 referendum on divorce Together with Denmark, Ireland provides a typical example (40.7% wanted to ban divorce) and the 1981 referendum on of compulsory referendums in Europe. Since 1937, every abortion (32% of the voters supported tightening up abor- amendment to the constitution has been compulsorily put tion legislation) are examples of corrective referendums on to the people. A simple majority of the votes decides, with ethical issues. In 1995, an initiative aimed at weakening no participation quorum. 28 national referendums were Berlusconi’s control of the media failed. Only 43.0% of the held between 1937 and 2002. Furthermore, the president voters supported the proposal to limit private media com- can hold a plebiscite if he rejects a law that has been passed pany ownership to a single TV channel.

65 Lithuania Examples This Baltic republic has good provisions: it has the com- In 1972, membership of the European Community was pulsory constitutional referendum, the optional referen- rejected by 53.5% of the voters; in 1994, there was a new dum and the popular initiative. From 1991 to the present vote on membership of the European Union with a similar (March 2006), 18 national referendums have been held. result: 52.2% against. However, because of the high participation quorum – 50% of the voters – many referendums have been declared Austria invalid. In 2002 and 2003, referendum law was amended: the participation quorum was reduced for referendums on Austria has a compulsory and binding referendum for membership of international organisations to which sov- complete revisions of the constitution. Partial constitu- ereignty is transferred. The opportunistic reason was that tional revisions are subject to a referendum if at least one the political elite wanted the referendum of May 2003 on third of the ‘Nationalrat ‘ (parliament) or the ‘Bundesrat’ accession to the European Union to succeed at all costs. (representatives of the federal states) request such changes For all other subjects, the participation quorum remains to the constitution. The ‘Nationalrat’ can also hold a bind- unchanged. There is no form of direct democracy at re- ing plebiscite on an ordinary law. Two national plebiscites gional and local levels. have been held since 1945. There is no popular initiative referendum at the national level. By collecting 100,000 Examples signatures, citizens can, however, submit a petition to the In 1996, no less than five national referendums were held parliament (‘Volksbegehren’). The option is regularly used, (of which four were on the same day). The sale of farm- but it does not lead to a referendum. In two of the nine land to certain parties was approved by 52.0% of the vot- states (Upper Austria and Steyermark), however, there is a ers; 79.6% voted for compensating citizens who had lost popular initiative referendum, as well as citizens’ initia- possessions under communism; 78.7% voted for the lower- tives in all municipalities. ing of the number of seats in parliament from 141 to 111; 77.3% voted for holding parliamentary elections every four Examples years on the second Sunday in March; and 76.9% approved In 1978, a plebiscite was held on the commissioning of the a measure by which at least half the annual budget is spent nuclear power station at Zwentendorf. Start-up was rejected by on social policy. In 2003, 92.0% of the voters supported ac- a narrow majority of 50.5%. In 1994, the people approved accession to the European Union. cession to the European Community by a majority of 66.6%.

The Netherlands Poland Within Europe, the Netherlands probably has the least expe- The Polish constitution, adopted by plebiscite in 1997, does rience with referendums. The Constitution – which is very not include the popular initiative referendum. However, difficult to amend – does not allow any binding popular the country does have a scheme for plebiscites and these votes. At the municipal level, however, some 125 non-bind- are regularly held. Plebiscites are valid if 50% of the regis- ing referendums have been held since 1912 – a majority tered voters take part. Since 1996, seven plebiscites have of them plebiscites. During the 1990s, a number of mu- been held, of which the last two were binding. nicipalities introduced the citizens’ initiative corrective referendum. In the capital, Amsterdam, seven referendums Examples have already been held since 1992. Under the pressure of On one day in 1996, no less than five plebiscites were held. public opinion, more and more political parties are now in The votes concerned three privatisation proposals (all re- favour of introducing a corrective referendum based on the jected, by respectively 96.2%, 91.3% and 76.8% of the vot- Italian example. But this requires a change to the constitu- ers) and two pension proposals (both also rejected by 95.1% tion, which failed by a hair’s breadth in 1999. Following and 96.0% of the voters). In 2003, membership of the Eu- the referendum on the European Constitution, this will be ropean Union was approved by 77.5% of the voters. attempted again. Slovakia Examples In 2005, the first national plebiscite since 1815 took place. Slovakia has several direct-democratic instruments. With On a turnout of 63.3%, the European Constitution was re- 350,000 signatures, citizens can launch either an optional jected by 61.5% of the voters. referendum or a popular initiative. `Fundamental citizens’ rights’, taxes, the budget and levies are excluded. Accession to an international association of states is subject to a com- Norway pulsory referendum. The government or the parliament can The Norwegian constitution dates from 1814, and does also hold a plebiscite on a subject of their choosing. There not provide for any form of direct democracy. The parlia- have been nine national plebiscites since 1994. The high par- ment (the ‘Storting’) can, however, hold a non-binding ticipation quorum of 50% of the voters often causes referen- plebiscite. Since 1905, six national plebiscites have been dums to fail. The referendum of 2003 on accession to the EU held in this way. There is also an extensive tradition of was heavily criticised as being unfair for its opponents. plebiscites at municipal level, where about 500 plebiscites have taken place since 1972. In 2003, the parliament in- Examples troduced the citizens’ initiative referendum at the munici- In 1998, 84.3% voted against the privatisation of ‘strategic pal level. This enables 300 citizens to put a specific subject industries’, especially electricity companies. In 2000, 95.1% to a popular vote. voted for holding snap elections. In 2003, 92.7% approved

66 accession to the European Union. In 2004, 86.8% voted in favour of snap elections once again.

Spain The Spanish constitution stipulates that the government and the parliament can hold a plebiscite on a matter of national importance. However, there are many exceptions: amendments to the constitution, taxes, the budget, and matters on which the parliament has absolute authority. In addition, 75,000 citizens can submit a type of petition. This can lead to a referendum, but as it needs the approval of the president, it is not a fully-fledged popular initiative referendum. An interesting aspect is that the initiators of a petition can obtain repayment of a part of their costs. This referendum money is subject to a participation quorum of 50% of the voters. There have been six national plebiscites since 1945. At the regional level, there is no form of referendum; at municipal level, the municipal council can hold a local plebiscite.

Examples In 1978, a constitutional amendment was approved by no less than 91.3% of the voters. In 1986, the Spaniards voted on whether or not to remain a member of NATO: 56.9% voted in favour. In 2005, the European Constitution was approved by 76.7% of the voters.

Sweden As in France, the Swedish government also makes use of plebiscites. The Social Democratic Party had dominated Swedish politics since the 1920s, but in 2006 a Conserva- tive government was elected. Five plebiscites have been held since 1945. Plebiscites are only binding under certain circumstances. At the local level, there is only a right to submit an agenda item.

Examples In 1980, a triple choice plebiscite was held on nuclear policy. The middle option – constructing 12 nuclear power stations that would be replaced after 25 years by alternative energy sources – received the highest share of the votes (40.5%). In 1994, 52.9% of the voters approved accession to the European Union. In 2003, 55.9% voted against the introduction of the euro.

67 6. Possible objections to direct democracy

The following objections are often raised against direct de- and not with an impossible abstract ideal. Many objections mocracy. levelled against direct democracy are actually objections to democracy as such. Furthermore, objections must be tested a. Incompetence: in a modern society, the problems are far against actual practice in places where forms of direct de- too complex for well-considered decision-making to be left mocracy have already been in operation for a century or to the man in the street. longer (particularly Switzerland and a few American states, see chapter 5). This is now possible, because in recent years b. Lack of a sense of responsibility: people do not consider a great deal of empirical research has been carried out in this anything except their own interests. For example, they area, covering almost every aspect of direct democracy. would abolish taxes without realising the consequences of such a measure, or demand higher government spending that would derail the budget. Politicians can always be a. Incompetence called to account for their decisions, but no-one is accountable for decisions made by referendum. This argument rejects direct democracy because the voters are not considered to be competent to form a well-considered c. Threats to minorities: direct democracy could be a means opinion. The argument has an unattractive history. It was used of approving proposals that violate human rights and against the universal single vote system, against votes for wom- fundamental freedoms. Minorities would be particularly en, and against votes for black people in South Africa, etc. threatened in this way. In 1893, the Belgian Catholic politician de Neef opposed uni- d. In connection with point c: in a direct democracy dema- versal voting rights by invoking the incompetence argument: gogues have the freedom to launch crudely populist pro- “Those who demand the right to vote must, of course, also posals. demonstrate that they are competent to exercise the function they demand. Do unfortunate people who have been unable e. Power of money: well-funded ‘special interests’ dominate to acquire an elementary education, who have been unable to the debate and use referendums for their own ends. raise themselves above the most primitive living conditions, nevertheless have the right to decide things for other people, f. Lack of possibilities for refining and qualifying the issues: and vote on the country’s weightiest issues? In reality, univer- voters can only say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a proposal in a refer- sal voting rights lead to the rule of the slickest, because those endum; there is no opportunity for greater discrimination who are unable to discriminate will be fully dependent on the and subtlety. Moreover, with referendums there is the is- smooth operators.” (Coenen and Lewin, 1997, p. 84). In 1919, sue of linking: all sorts of issues not directly concerned his parliamentary colleague, the socialist Hubin, used the ‘in- with the actual subject of the referendum play a role in the competence’ argument to oppose voting rights for women. voters’ decisions. Interestingly enough, it appears that Hubin now accepted that in the meantime working-class males had actually acquired g. Conflict with representative democracy: parliament is dis- the necessary competence: “The right to vote is a dangerous credited by referendums and the primacy of the ‘official’ weapon. Nothing is more valuable than this weapon for an political sphere is undermined. organised and educated class, who are aware of their rights and responsibilities. But are you gong to grant this right to a h. Overburdening the voters: voters don’t want referendums gender that is not prepared to make use of it?” (Coenen and at all; they want to be left in peace and not be obliged to go Lewin, 1997, p. 95; it should be noted that both women’s right to vote. to vote and direct democracy had been included in the Bel- gian socialist Gotha programme, approved in 1875.) i. Manipulation of the way the question is presented: the question can be suggestively phrased so that voters are In practice, each time the group concerned had received vot- misled into voting against their real convictions. ing rights, the argument had turned out to be completely false. The same applies to direct-democratic decision-mak- j. Conservatism: the referendum ensures that essential re- ing: Swiss practice demonstrates that the argument is also newals are blocked, because people tend to vote for retain- invalid in this context. Switzerland is clearly one of the bet- ing the status quo. Others claim the exact opposite: that ter-governed countries of Europe, with a very small execu- enthusiastic activists can take over democracy via the ref- tive, efficient public services and an above-average economy erendum, because the silent majority doesn’t take part in that runs well. referendums. The argument fails for several reasons: morals are always k. Referendums are unnecessary because there are better the key to a political decision, and a moral decision is always ways of allowing the people to discuss political issues. personal. No-one can make a moral decision for someone else, and every responsible person is by definition capable l. Finally, in some states, such as Belgium, it is argued that of making a moral decision. “The voters (...) do not need to the referendum threatens the unity of the country. have detailed knowledge of the issues, but rather of the main questions at stake. These, however, are not of a technical This chapter discusses these objections one by one. A note in nature, but involve basic decisions (i.e., value judgements), advance: in assessing the objections, direct democracy must which a voter is as qualified to make as a politician.” (Frey always be compared with the purely representative system and Bohnet, 1994, p. 156)

68 In this context, one must not forget how demanding life is zer (2004) examined this by comparing Switzerland and the for people today. It is (rightly) assumed that under normal European Union, where a number of countries held referen- circumstances they stand entirely on their own two feet in a dums on European integration, and others did not. During fast-moving and competitive society. Via school, work and in the period examined, seven of the EU states held a referen- all other aspects of their daily life, they continually encounter dum on European integration (Denmark, Ireland, France, on a smaller scale the problems which are also the issues of Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway). There were no EU the day in the wider political sphere. This is only logical, be- referendums during this period in the other eight countries cause, ideally, politics is really about the problems that peo- (at that time only 15 countries belonged to the EU). Inhabit- ple encounter in their day-to-day lives. ants of countries which held referendums appeared to score considerably better on 10 general questions about the EU In making their choices, citizens usually use ‘information than did inhabitants of countries where no referendum was shortcuts’, such as the opinions of acquaintances and ‘nat- held: the effect was just as great as the difference between ural authorities’ that they trust: for example, the voting rec- people with an average income versus people with a low in- ommendations of political parties and public organisations, come. In Switzerland, Benz and Stutzer took an index of the information that is provided by media and experts etc. In degree of direct democracy at cantonal level (which, as stated Switzerland, the voting recommendations of numerous or- previously, differs considerably from one canton to another), ganisations (political parties, trade unions, churches, profes- and compared this with the answers from Swiss citizens on sional associations and pressure groups etc.) are included in three questions about general Swiss politics. Here too, the the referendum information packages. Incidentally, members Swiss who lived in cantons with greater direct democracy of parliament make just as much use of shortcuts: they must had considerably more knowledge than the Swiss living in make decisions about so many laws and regulations that it is cantons with more representative systems. The impact was frequently not feasible for them to study all the sources of in- just as large as the difference between members of political formation themselves (this became clear from a survey show- parties and non-members, or the difference between people ing that Dutch MPs read only a quarter of all the memoran- with monthly incomes of 5,000 versus 9,000 Swiss francs. dums that they are expected to read (Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, 28 February 1997), so that they regularly make use of `shortcuts’. Lupia (1994) has shown that the use of ‘in- b. Lack of a sense of responsibility formation shortcuts’ by citizens in referendums has hardly any effect on the final decision. In his analysis of a number According to this argument, people will mainly approve proof Californian citizens’ initiatives from 1990, it appeared that posals that serve only their own interests, showing a lack of there was only a 3% difference in voting behaviour between responsibility for the whole community or society, with de- the group of voters who were well-informed and the group of structive consequences. They will, for example, vote to abol- voters who based their vote solely on shortcuts. ish taxes and at the same time increase public spending.

Moreover, the argument cannot be used selectively against In reality, from a financial perspective, citizens are more re- direct democracy: it is actually an argument against democ- sponsible than politicians. The large public debts that now racy itself. If the citizens are not competent to decide on spe- exist in most Western countries, for example, have been ac- cific issues, by definition they are certainly not competent crued against the wishes of the people. Surveys conducted to elect people who make good decisions. In order to elect over several generations in Germany and the US show that a someone who makes good decisions, after all, one must not stable two-thirds majority of the population are in favour of only be competent to distinguish between good and bad de- a government budget that remains balanced also in the short cisions, but also be competent to judge the trustworthiness term (‘balanced budget’, von Weizsäcker, 1992). Thus, the and moral and intellectual integrity of the candidates, or be accumulation of a mountain of debt is the result of a policy competent to see through the hidden agendas of the political that is contrary to the wishes of the majority. People are also parties. “It is (...) not clear why the citizens are trusted to be unwilling to be burdened with measures that would be re- able to choose between parties and politicians in elections, quired to reduce such mountains of debt (Blinder and Bag- but not between issues in referendums. If anything, the well, 1988; Tabellini and Alesina, 1990). former choice seems to be the more difficult one, because electors must form expectations about politicians’ actions in Research has shown that the accumulation of a government the future.” (Frey and Bohnet, 1994, p. 157) deficit is closely connected with the party-political line-up in a country. Here are a few empirical observations: The incompetence argument also includes the concealed twin assumptions that the elected representatives are actu- • the greater the polarisation within a multi-party coalition, ally competent, and really do have the public interest at heart. the greater the tendency to accrue a debt; “Critics of direct legislation frequently have a view of state • the more probable it is that a government will lose the legislators that borders on the mythical: highly intelligent; coming election, the greater the tendency to accrue a debt; extremely well informed; as rational as a virtuous, wise, and • the shorter a government’s average term in office, the deliberative statesman; and as competent as corporate presi- greater the accrued debt; dents and university professors. These same critics tend to • the more coalition partners there are in a government, the view the people as a ‘mob’, unworthy of being trusted. Yet the greater the tendency to accrue a debt. people, or so-called mob, are the same persons who elect legislators. How is it that they can choose between good and bad (cf. Roubini and Sachs, whose research concerned the OECD candidates but cannot choose between good and bad laws?” countries during the period from 1960 to 1985; other refer- (Cronin, 1989, p. 87) ences in von Weizsäcker, 1992).

Finally, it is a fact that citizens’ ‘social knowledge’ increases These observations demonstrate that the political elite’s as a result of participating in referendums. Benz and Stut- short-term thinking plays a pivotal role in the accrual of the

69 national debt: debt is incurred to buy votes, so to speak. Von California is frequently referred to specifically as a place Weizsäcker (1992) therefore argues for the implementation of where citizens have taken irresponsible financial decisions by a compulsory referendum before national debt is incurred. means of referendums. It has been claimed, for example, that citizens’ initiatives have fixed so large a part of the Californian As we have also already shown in chapter 5, Feld and Matsu- budget and at the same time frozen the possibility of intro- saka (2003) examined how voters decide at referendums on ducing new taxes that, as a result, politicians have no longer public spending in Switzerland. In a number of cantons, pub- had enough room for manoeuvre. Matsusaka (2005) exam- lic spending is subject to compulsory ‘finance referendums’. ined this claim and concluded that, after almost a century of Each individual public-sector expenditure above a certain direct democracy, 68% of the Californian budget was entirely amount (the average for this is 2.5 million Swiss francs) must dictated by the representative system, and that the possibility be separately approved by means of a referendum. Feld and of introducing new taxes had hardly been restricted at all. Matsusaka found that cantons with this type of compulsory referendum spent 19% less than cantons without this type of Despite the politicians’ heavy responsibility for the poor finan- referendum (the figures relate to the period 1980 to 1998). cial situation in the majority of Western countries (apparent from the discussion above), they still succeed in reversing the Matsusaka examined the same effect for the American states, roles. The Belgian Senator Hugo Vandenberghe defended his systematically analysing all the available data for the whole of opposition to the referendum in the following words: “The the 20th century. States with the citizens’ initiative appear people do not have to carry any responsibility for their deci- to spend 4% less at state level than states without it. Fur- sions. They can perfectly easily decide to scrap taxation and thermore, it appears that the easier it is to launch a citizens’ two weeks later increase social security benefit payments.” initiative, the larger the impact is: in states with the lowest (Belgian newspaper De Standaard, 19 December 1992). The signature threshold, public spending was 7% lower than in truth is exactly the reverse, of course: at the end of the day it is states without the citizens’ initiative, whereas the impact in always the people who must pay the bill for a derailed budget, states with the highest signature thresholds was almost zero. in the form of increased taxes and degraded public services, At local level, the citizens’ initiative led to higher expendi- etc. The individual politicians in representative systems, who ture, but overall the net-effect was a fall in public spending are the only ones who decide on the level of taxes and na- (Matsusaka, 2004, p. 33-35). tional debts, never take the consequences of their decisions personally, of course. They have never paid back a single cent Direct democracy also leads to lower taxes. If the citizens’ ini- of expenditure for which the citizens never asked or that led to tiative referendum is available in a certain state, this led to a national debts. After their mandate expires – possibly being re- reduction in tax of US$ 534 for a family of four people, which warded with a golden handshake or a generous retainer – they corresponds to approximately 4% of the public revenue. The simply move on to their next party-political job. Afterwards difference is significant, but not dramatic in absolute terms they can trot out plausible-sounding arguments for their deci- and one cannot say, on the basis of this alone, that the state sions, but then the harm has already been done, without any becomes unmanageable (Matsusaka, 2004, p. 33-35). guarantee that their successors will do any better.

Therefore, although both public spending and taxes de- In fact, Senator Vandenberghe draws attention to a key argu- crease, the net effect is a decrease in budgetary deficits. Feld ment in favour of direct democracy: because the people always and Kirchgässner (1999) surveyed the effect of compulsory have to take the consequences of the budgetary and taxation referendums on the budgets in 131 of the largest Swiss cit- decisions, it is only logical that the people must also have the ies and municipalities. They chose to compare municipali- final word on these decisions. ties rather than cantons, because municipalities have more room for manoeuvre in the area of budgets even than cantons, where it is already considerable. They found that the c. Threats to minorities availability of compulsory referendums on the budget had a strong effect of reducing budget deficits. Kiewit and Sza- According to this argument, direct democracy would become kaly (1996) had previously drawn the same conclusion for a weapon in the hands of majorities to oppress minorities the United States. and to establish a dictatorship.

Moreover, it is certainly not true that if tax issues are on the This is another argument against democracy itself – or actually agenda, citizens by definition choose lower taxes. Piper (2001) against any political system that allows any freedom of choice mapped all citizens’ initiatives relating to taxes in American – not against direct democracy. A parliamentary regime can states from 1978 to 1999; in the US, optional referendums equally fail in its duty to minorities, or establish a dictatorship. do not play a significant role. There were 130 citizens’ initia- The takeover of power by the Nazis in 1933 is a good example tives on taxes, of which 86 sought a tax reduction, 27 a tax of the installation of a dictatorship via the parliamentary route. increase, with 17 being neutral about the rate of tax. Of the The German parliament not only elected Hitler as Chancellor citizens’ initiatives to reduce taxes, 48% were approved, i.e. in 1933, but also granted him unlimited power by means of the less than half. Of the citizens’ initiatives to increase taxes, ‘ Ermächtigungsgesetz’ (‘enabling law’), even though the Nazis 39% were approved. The difference between these two is represented less than half of the electorate in all the elections therefore small, and the percentages vary around the aver- held up to that time. A form of limited direct democracy also age chance of success for citizens’ initiatives in the United existed in Germany at that time, but it was the parliamentary States, which is 41%. In Switzerland, voters also regularly system that introduced the dictatorship [see 6-1]. approve necessary tax increases. In 1993, an extra tax on fuel of 0.20 Swiss francs a litre (approximately 0.14 euro) was In principle, a direct democracy actually provides more op- approved, after an earlier increase in 1983 had also been ac- portunities for minorities to have an effect than representa- cepted by referendum. In 1984, new taxes were approved by tive systems. “In a direct democracy, each issue must find referendum for motorways and for the use of trucks. its own majority. Each time there are different issues on the

70 agenda and each time the coalition that forms the majority is of human rights. The newspaper forgot to mention that the made up differently. One time you will be part of the major- Swiss had already voted directly-democratically on six earlier ity, another time of the minority. And in a direct democracy occasions on similar proposals, and that these had all been minorities also have more opportunities to put issues onto rejected with generally large majorities. When, on the day fol- the public agenda. If [in Switzerland] they collect 100,000 lowing the Volkskrant article, this latest proposal suffered the signatures, a vote is held on their issue. Then their opponents fate of the earlier ones, the newspaper was silent. must also explain exactly why they are against the proposal. Through this new insights can be acquired and opinions can For the United States, the political scientist Gamble (1997) change. Direct democracy is more than a simple survey. It attempted to prove that referendums on minority rights fre- provides dynamics through which minorities have the possi- quently produced negative outcomes for such rights. Her con- bility of becoming majorities. In a purely representative sys- clusions were, however, strongly criticised by her colleagues tem, on the other hand, particular parties oppose each other. (including Donovan and Bowler, 1998, and Matsusaka, 2004). If you sit in the rank and file of an opposition party, in fact Firstly, Gamble had not systematically examined a series of you have no effective vote, because the parties of the govern- referendums over a specific period, but based her conclusions ing coalition have a permanent majority in parliament and in on reports in the media and other subjective sources. Her principle they can obtain everything they want”, according to data set was therefore not arrived at randomly. Distortions are Swiss Member of Parliament Andi Gross (2000). obvious in such cases, because the media are more inclined to report sensational cases. Secondly, Gamble had not made It is not for nothing that, when they are asked directly, minori- a distinction between referendums in small municipalities ties always include themselves in the majority who are in fa- and referendums at state level. When Donovan and Bowler vour of direct democracy. A 1999 Rasmussen survey among reanalysed her data, it appeared that the degree to which mi- Texans found that 72% of blacks and 86% of Hispanics were in nority rights were violated was much more a function of the favour of direct democracy, compared to 69% of whites (www. size of the political unit (small municipalities versus large cit- initiativefortexas.org/whowants.htm). Surveys carried out by ies) than of the citizens’ initiative. Thus there is no difference Field at three different times (1979, 1982 and 1997) among from the results in a representative system. Finally, Gamble inhabitants of California found a large and consistent majority had arbitrarily characterised various citizens’ initiatives as ex- for the setting-up of direct democracy among all ethnic groups. amples of “tyranny by the majority” – such as a proposal that In 1997, 76.9% of Asians, 56.9% of blacks, 72.8% of Hispanics English be the official language of California, or that people and 72.6% of whites considered Californian direct democracy convicted of serious sexual offences be subject to a mandatory to be a “good thing´, whereas the proportion that found this a AIDS test. It rather depends on ones personal point of view. “bad thing” was highest among the whites (11.5%) and the low- Is it really so strange to have English as the official language est among the Asians, at only 1.9% (Matsusaka, 2004, p. 118). in an American state; and must we actually consider it a human right for someone to be allowed to rape a person without Empirical research shows that if referendums are held on subsequently having to undergo an AIDS test? minority rights, these result in large majorities in favour of such rights. Frey and Goette (1998) took the civil rights Whites are still the largest ethnic group in California, at al- from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the most 50%. Other major groups are blacks, Asians and His- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural panics. Hajnal, Gerber and Louch (2002) studied how the Rights as their points of departure and then examined all various ethnic populations in California vote in referendums. Swiss referendums on minority rights in the period from They examined no less than 51 popular votes. It appeared 1970 to 1996 at federal level, in the Zurich canton and in the that the difference in voting behaviour between the various municipality of Zurich. In more than two-thirds of the cases ethnic groups was very small: voters from ethnic minority (70%), the outcome was support for minority rights. At fed- groups have an average of only 1% less chance of being on eral level, support was even higher, at 80%. It also appeared the winning side than white voters. that referendums which threaten minority rights have much less chance of being adopted than referendums on other Meanwhile, what is the attitude of elected representatives to subjects. Of the citizens’ initiatives at federal level, 10% on the constitutional state? Cronin (1989, p. 91-92) quotes the his- average are approved; of 11 citizens’ initiatives (1891-1996) torian Commager, who had looked into the trustworthiness of that sought to reduce minority rights, not one was success- the representative authorities on civil freedoms and minority ful. By contrast, minority groups are frequently successful in rights: “A cumulative list of these might well dishearten even referendums. On average, 50% of the compulsory referen- the most optimistic Jeffersonian. Censorship laws, anti-evolu- dums are adopted. Of the 11 compulsory referendums that tion laws, flag-salute laws, red-flag laws, anti-syndicalist, anti- supported minority rights (1866 to 1996), no less than 73% socialist, anti-communist laws, sedition and criminal-anarchy were adopted. Again, on average, 63% of the optional refer- laws, anti-contraceptive information laws – these and others endums are adopted. The two optional referendums (1866 to come all too readily to mind. The New York legislature purged 1996) that supported minority rights were both adopted. itself of socialists; the Massachusetts legislature imposed loy- alty oaths on teachers; the Oregon legislature outlawed private On 24 September 2000, the Volkskrant, probably the most schools and the Nebraska legislature forbade the teaching of influential newspaper in the Netherlands, published a criti- German in public schools; the Tennessee legislature prohib- cal and tendentious article about the citizens’ initiative ref- ited the teaching of evolution; the Pennsylvania legislature au- erendum to be held the following day in Switzerland. This thorized the requirement of a flag-salute for school children; sought to limit the number of foreigners residing in Switzer- the Louisiana legislature imposed a discriminatory tax upon land, which has always been very high (around 20%), due in newspapers… The list could be extended indefinitely.” part to Switzerland’s strong humanitarian tradition and to its thriving economy. The newspaper suggested that this type of A much-quoted example of the discriminatory use of the ref- proposal was socially acceptable within Swiss direct democra- erendum is the late introduction of women’s right to vote cy, and inferred that the referendum represented a violation in Switzerland. Swiss women only won the right to vote in

71 1971 – through a referendum in which only men took part, of In the United States, approximately half of the states still re- course. In Belgium, the female franchise was introduced in tain the death penalty (the states have jurisdiction on this 1948. That difference of 23 years, however, has not so much point). A very complete treatment of this topic by the lawyer to do with the fact that direct democracy existed in Swit- Heussner (1999) shows a balanced picture. American states zerland, but more with the fact that Switzerland remained with and without direct democracy appear to have the death outside the turmoil of the Second World War (though being penalty to an approximately equal extent: of the 24 states entirely surrounded by the Axis powers). The trauma of war with direct democracy, 19 have the death penalty (79%); of and occupation appears to significantly ease the introduction the 27 states without direct democracy, 20 have the death of political changes. In Belgium, for example, women’s right penalty (74%). It appears, however, that all the states with- to vote was introduced after the Second World War and the out the death penalty are in the north and east of the United universal single vote system was introduced after the First States (with the exception of Hawaii) and all the states with World War. That the spirit of the times in the 1960s was a death penalty are in the south and west. It is thus mainly rather different to that in the 1990s becomes clear from mat- a difference in political culture: in the west and south sup- rimonial law, for example. Up until 1976, Belgian women port for the death penalty – as well as for other related politi- had to promise to obey their husbands when getting mar- cal issues – is larger both among the public and among the ried. Only in that year did the purely representative system politicians, and in the north and east there is similarly much in Belgium provide equal rights for spouses in line with the less support from both public and politicians. We see similar changing social views. north-south disparities in Europe.

In the United States, direct democracy preceded representa- It is true that the death penalty has been introduced or re- tive democracy in respect of women’s right to vote. Legisla- introduced in a number of states by means of citizens’ initiative citizens’ initiatives at the start of the 20th century grant- tives, but in many cases this was a response from the people ed women the right to vote for the first time in Colorado and to the abolition of the death penalty by courts (because of in- Oregon. Arizona followed later, and then Wyoming, where compatibility with the Constitution or other legal principles), a referendum on its new Constitution provided for women’s and at the same time a majority of the elected representatives voting rights. All these successful attempts had been preced- was also in favour of the death penalty. There was therefore ed by a series of failures, not only in Oregon and Colorado, no disparity between the representative system and direct de- but also in Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. The citizens’ ini- mocracy. In other states there is no direct democracy, but the tiatives were used in the United States at state level to force death penalty exists (still) because of the constant support the question of women’s voting rights, and only when this of the elected politicians. In the state of Oregon, the death had happened was the Federal Constitution of the United penalty was abolished by means of citizens’ initiative in 1914, States amended in line with this in 1920 (Cronin, 1989, p. whereupon it was reintroduced in 1920 at the initiative of the 97). The fact is that the opponents of direct democracy rou- parliament. (Heussner, 1999) tinely mention women’s voting rights in Switzerland and, in all languages, are silent about the contrary examples in America, which illustrates how selectively they choose their d. Influence of demagogues and populists examples. In an extension of the claim discussed above – that direct The death penalty is also referred to frequently. It is claimed democracy would violate minority rights – it is also fre- that direct democracy would lead to the introduction or re- quently suggested that direct democracy would offer a broad introduction of the death penalty, and should be rejected platform to populists and demagogues (see inset 6-2 among for this reason. First of all, this argument is fundamentally other references). flawed. The unacceptability of the death penalty is taken as an inviolable premise, and it is then assumed that direct democ- In reality, demagogues have rather more opportunities in a racy leads to the death penalty: “therefore” direct democracy purely representative system, in which a small group of top must be rejected. But that assumed unacceptability is cer- politicians dictate what happens and citizens are banished tainly not a given, but is something which must emerge as a to the sidelines. This almost always leads to dissatisfaction fundamental value from an open debate between free, equal amongst the population. The only way in which they can ex- citizens. Anyone who argues that one should go against the press that dissatisfaction is by voting for populist politicians majority on this (or any other) point is pleading for the poli- who promise that they really will clean up ‘the mess’ in the tics of power and dictatorship. Note also that this is another country if they can only get sufficient support in the elec- argument against democracy as such. The introduction of tions. In a direct democracy, citizens have little need of such the death penalty is also very possible in a purely electoral ‘strong leaders’, because the citizens themselves can propose system – are we therefore also going to abolish elections? their own solutions and seek to have them adopted through citizens’ initiatives and referendums. In Switzerland, po- Moreover, the facts tell a different story. There are two coun- litical personalities play virtually no significant role (see the tries in Europe where the population could introduce the quotation at the beginning of chapter 5). A direct democracy death penalty by means of a citizens’ initiative: Switzerland is much more issue-oriented, whereas a purely representa- and Liechtenstein. However, no death penalty exists in these tive system is more person-oriented. countries, nor has there ever been an attempt to introduce it by means of direct democracy. Very much to the contrary: in It is certainly true that all kinds of dictators – Hitler, Saddam Switzerland, the abolition of the death penalty was approved Hussein, Pinochet etc. ( as well as a lot of governments in by referendum, firstly in 1935 for peacetime, and subsequent- Europe which like to call themselves democratic) – have used ly in 1992 also for times of war (abolition was always part of plebiscites. Plebiscites are popular votes that are arranged a broader package of legal measures). A further explicit pro- by the governing majority or the head of state, generally hibition of the death penalty in the Swiss Constitution was with the intention of creating a special legitimacy for their approved by referendum in 1999. (Heussner, 1999) plans. In general, the results of plebiscites are non-binding,

72 the conditions for validity are adjusted from case to case states that “the power of money in a direct democracy is basi- by those in power (after all, they want a valid result), and cally always less than in a purely representative system. In quite often all kinds of separate issues are compressed into the latter, groups with money need only to influence a small one defined question to which the voters can only say ‘yes’ number of politicians. In a direct democracy they must influ- or ‘no’ as an all-in package. The plebiscite in Lithuania in ence the entire population and do so publicly.” May 2003 on EU accession (in which the normal turnout quorum was dropped), and the plebiscite on entry to NATO Secondly, simply spending lots of money does not guarantee that was held in Hungary in November 1997, are examples a favourable outcome. Critics, such as the journalist David of turnout thresholds being modified. The plebiscite held by Broder (2000), quote, in an anecdotal manner, examples of the Austrian government in the autumn of 2000 (as a result campaigns in which economic interest groups – sometimes of the sanctions which European countries had imposed on a company or other commercial special-interest group – have Austria after the right-wing FPÖ entered the government) staked a lot of money. However, there needs to be systematic is an example of the compression of many issues into a sin- and rigorous research carried out into a complete series of gle defined problem. Six questions were asked to which the citizens’ initiatives over a longer period before it is possible voters could give only one answer. The first question asked to determine what the effect of the money is. whether the sanctions must be ended, the second and third questions asked rhetorically whether other countries would The political scientist Elisabeth Gerber (1999) did this. She not do better to refrain from interfering with the Austrian analysed the cash flows of 168 citizens’ initiatives in eight government, and the other three questions concerned spe- American states. In contrast to what critics claim, powerful cific regulations in a future European Constitution. A single commercial interests appear to have relatively little success answer to six separate questions is not possible. The govern- in obtaining approval of a law they desire by means of pop- ment and parliament can interpret the result in any way they ular referendum. Of the initiatives that were mainly finan- want, and in any case the result is not binding. Since the cially supported by individual citizens, 50% were adopted; of citizens’ initiative referendum does not exist in Austria, the the initiatives that were mainly financially supported by eco- citizens themselves are powerless. nomic special-interest groups, only 31% were adopted. Ger- ber identified several types of ‘special-interest groups’, and Plebiscites, however, have nothing to do with direct democ- the chance of adoption of citizens’ initiatives plummeted as racy. In a genuine direct democracy the general public can the percentage of campaign funds from industry increased. always use the collection of signatures to force the govern- Gerber found that the topics that were promoted by econom- ing majority to hold a referendum, and the conditions are ic special-interest groups were simply less popular and it was regulated by law and are the same for everyone – politician or therefore also more difficult to recruit volunteers. Citizens’ not. Moreover, democracy always implies freedom of speech, groups have less money, but can find volunteers much more freedom of association, freedom of demonstration, etc., so easily and compensate themselves in this way. that anyone can conduct a public campaign, which was never the case under the dictatorships mentioned. A strong gov- Political scientists Donovan, Bowler, McCuan and Fernandez erning majority does not need to hold popular votes: they (1998) found that, whereas 40% of all Californian citizens’ already have a mandate for action. The Swiss Constitution initiatives were adopted in the period from 1986 to 1996, does not allow for any plebiscites. only 14% of the citizens’ initiatives from financially strong ‘special interests’ were adopted. “Our data reveals that these are indeed the hardest initiatives to market in California, and e. Power of money that money spent by proponents in this arena is largely wasted.” Another survey by the political scientist Anne Campbell According to this argument, anyone who has a lot of money into citizens’ initiatives in Colorado showed that during the can set up a massive media campaign and use this to control period from 1966 up to 1994 (almost 3 decades), only one the public debate and win the battle with sophisticated mar- citizens’ initiative coming from a ‘special interest’ was suc- keting techniques. The former mayor of Amsterdam, Schelto cessful at the ballot box (IRI, 2005). As we noted in chapter 5, Patijn, put it this way: “A referendum against the policy on commercial special-interest groups have actually been more drugs? The underworld is certainly prepared to invest several successful in undermining the citizens’ initiatives of others million guilders in an unchanged policy. Buy 700 hours of by launching counter-initiatives. TV. That’s the way to buy a referendum.” (De Telegraaf, 13 January 1997) But even when special interests are the only groups that are in a position to launch a citizens’ initiative, the voters are It is not disputed that in some places lots of money is spent better off than in a situation without any citizens’ initiative on direct democracy. In 1998, a record amount of $400 mil- referendum. Matsusaka (2004) compares this with a fam- lion was spent on referendum campaigns in the US. Of this, ily in which the father (= ‘representative system’) unilaterally at least 250 million was spent in one state alone: California ‘proposes’ what flavour pizza is to be eaten. When the moth- (Smith, 2001; more on this in chapter 5). In the US there are er (= ‘special interests’) can also suggest a pizza, after which both very professionally run campaigns with extensive use of everyone (including the children = the voters) can vote on TV commercials, and paid signature collection. the proposals, then this can never make the children’s situation worse, even if they cannot suggest a pizza themselves. In this case, too, direct democracy must not be compared The option proposed by the father is always available, but if with a non-existent and unachievable ideal situation, but mother has an even better idea, that can be given preference with the purely representative system that currently exists. in the voting. “So we can see that allowing everyone in the Financially powerful groups also spend large amounts on family to make proposals generally works to the advantage the election campaigns of political parties and presidential of the majority. The conclusion stands even if the right to candidates, and on lobbying to influence legislators and civil make proposals is reserved for certain family members. (…) servants. The Swiss parliamentarian Gross (2000) correctly As long as proposals are filtered through a majority-rule elec-

73 tion, the only way initiatives make the majority worse off is if It is clear that money always has an impact on direct-demo- voters can be persuaded to approve policies contrary to their cratic decision-making. But this impact is at least equally interest.” (Matsusaka, 2004, p. 12). great for representative democracy, and can be offset by equalizing campaign funding. For this reason, Californian Matsusaka highlights a key issue here: many critics of direct ‘progressives’ such as Shultz argue for absolutely no return democracy retain the tacit assumption that citizens can be to the traditional representative system, but they do ask for easily persuaded to vote against their own convictions and in- specific measures to restrict the role of ‘big money’. Frey terests. But in fact this is no different to the implicit reason- and Bohnet (1994, p. 158) write: “It cannot be denied that ing that lurks behind the purely representative system: that financially strong parties and special-interest groups are politicians know better what is good for the people than the better able to start initiatives and produce propaganda than people themselves. That is a dangerous assumption, because interest groups that are not or are only poorly organised. it opens the door to political dictatorship. There is no sense, however, in aiming to achieve a totally egalitarian democracy; there will always be differences in There is still another way to approach the problem of big the capacities of individuals and groups to influence the di- money. Matsusaka systematically compared the outcomes of rection of policy. It is always true that rich and well-organ- referendums in the United States to the outcomes of opin- ised groups are more powerful. The important question is ion polls. Whereas launching a referendum campaign can not, however, whether there are such differences, but under incur expenditure of millions of dollars, an opinion poll can which rules and with which bodies do the benefits weigh the be carried out for as little as a couple of thousand dollars. In heaviest organisationally and financially. However, lobbying the latter case, there is no distortion as a result of the input becomes all the more efficient as the system becomes less of ‘big money’. Matsusaka analysed an enormous quantity of democratic. Even without elections, for example in a dicta- data covering the entire 20th century. His conclusion: “For torship, special-interest groups exert influence. In the Euro- every policy I am able to examine, the initiative pushes policy pean Union, interest groups are able to exert more influence in the direction a majority of people say they want to go. I than in separate member countries, because the European am unable to findany evidence that the majority dislikes the Union is less democratic (Andersen and Eliassen, 1991). policy changes caused by the initiative”. (Matsusaka, 2004, In Switzerland, even with a coalition between the interest p. xi-xii; italicised in the original). groups and the political elite, it appears that this front does not always get its own way, certainly not if it concerns im- All the information above relates to the United States. In Eu- portant matters.” rope, hardly any research has been carried out into the role of money in direct democracy, because money clearly plays a The problem of manipulation by media campaigns and mo- much smaller role in Europe. In Switzerland there have been nopolies on the distribution of information is not a problem a number of referendums in which a relatively large amount of direct democracy; it is a problem of democracy itself. Two of money was spent, but the level is not comparable with the realities collide with each other in this context. On the one United States. hand, the mass media are mainly privately owned and, on the other, the dissemination of views through the mass me- Experience shows over and over again that two elements dia falls under the principle of the freedom of the press. This are important: the source of the campaigners’ funds must restricts the freedom of speech in both directions. The mass be open to public inspection, and all the parties to the is- media have the tendency to defend the points of view of their sue must get sufficient opportunity to have their say. The owners, and wealthy people or groups can address the public importance of openness in respect of finances is illustrated by buying advertisements and television spots. On the other by innumerable examples. For example, an anti-nuclear hand, citizens’ initiatives with no funds have little opportu- citizens’ initiative in Montana (1978) had only 10,000 dol- nity to have their voices heard. lars with which to campaign. The opponents of the citizens’ initiative spent 260,000 dollars. Nevertheless, with a 65% Attacking the freedom of the press cannot solve this prob- share of the votes, the citizens’ initiative gained a sensational lem. Thus the constitutional state should first and foremost victory. During the course of the campaign, the public’s at- organise its own forum, the chief function of which is to tention was constantly drawn to the fact that the opponents’ serve as an arena for discussion and creating awareness. money came almost entirely from outside Montana and like- Such a forum could be created around the following three wise almost entirely from the nuclear industry. A similar considerations, among others: initiative against nuclear power took place somewhat later in Oregon (1980). Here too, the citizens’ group obtained a victory against the financial supremacy of the industry, be- 1. There is absolutely no reason why public radio and televi- cause it had sufficient opportunity to make its voice heard. sion, which are mostly funded from taxes, should be oc- The ‘fairness doctrine’ was properly applied and so, despite cupied with the production of ‘entertainment’. Entertain- its restricted financial resources, the group was able to reach ment is pre-eminently a commercial activity, and can be the voters sufficiently by means of radio and television (see carried out much better by commercial broadcasters. The Cronin, 1989). It is striking that organisations with a lot of constitutional state has no more reason to produce mere money are seldom enthusiastic about direct democracy: “Fi- entertainment than it has, for example, to make sunglass- nancially powerful groups have put up dogged resistance es or dog food. against the introduction of the referendum: in Minnesota, in New Jersey, in Rhode Island. The AFL-CIO, business groups, The tasks of the constitutional state derive from its goal chambers of commerce during recent years have again and of achieving equality before the law and the protection of again fought against the citizens’ initiative, frequently with fundamental rights and freedoms. From this perspective, the argument that, ironically enough, a citizens’ initiative it is the duty of a public broadcasting system to ensure free costs a lot of money and that only the richer organisations access to information and cultural products that the citi- can therefore make use of it.” (Cronin, 1989) zens need to fully take part in public life.

74 This duty must undoubtedly be considered in a broad opportunity to make themselves heard. The same principle sense: it comprises thorough newsgathering, access to rel- applies in many European states for political parties, which evant cultural events that are not offered on commercial usually receive government grants based on their member- channels, and programmes of analysis. The key mission, ship numbers or number of parliamentary seats. There is however, is to support the democratic opinion-forming absolutely no reason to give government grants to political process. By organising carefully prepared and balanced parties, but not to citizens’ committees that have achieved debates, in which supporters and opponents of an initia- a signature threshold for a referendum. After all, both have tive receive equal opportunities to speak, the impact of eco- shown that they enjoy a certain level of public support. nomic imbalance on the opinion-forming process can be radically reduced. This parcel of measures would create a space for a balanced forming of opinions. Whether a democracy succeeds or fails The state should take measures to enable a balanced opin- depends to a large extent on the quality of its freedom of de- ion-forming culture. The public broadcasting service can bate. It is not generally the job of the state to actively provide play a key role in this, provided that it remains entirely the means of speech and debating forums for the citizens. independent of political and commercial forces. This inde- Citizens should have the full freedom to set up special forums pendence must also be visible. For this reason it is abso- for debate and the forming of opinions, and these forums can lutely necessary that direct and indirect advertising is kept be freely regulated by the founders. Otherwise, it is the same out of public broadcasts. as the democratic debate that immediately precedes the taking of legislative decisions. In this context, besides the private fo- 2. There should be no direct intervention in the print me- rums, a special forum should be created by the constitutional dia. Mayer (1989, p. 118) cites the proposal of the ‘Aktion state itself that is available for all citizens to be heard equally, Volksentscheid’ (in Achberg, south-west Germany) to oblige regardless of their financial resources and background. the mass media (radio, television, publications with a cir- culation of over 100,000 copies) to publicise citizens’ initiatives and provide equal opportunities to speak for sup- f. Lack of possibilities for refining and porters and opponents. This proposal screams out against qualifying the issues press freedom. The mass media must also have unrestrict- ed opportunity to express a preference for or against an According to this argument, referendums should be rejected initiative. The state can, however, utilise the large amounts because they are too ‘crude’ and simplistic, offering only ‘yes’ of money which are currently used for subsidizing (pub- and ‘no’ options. This argument was used, for example, by lic) media and government propaganda to fund space for the former Belgian premier Dehaene (“I know of few prob- informative advertising at times of referendums and elec- lems that you can resolve with a yes or no”) on the Belgian tions. In such a ‘Public Democratic Speaking Space’ in RTBf French TV channel, 4 October 1992. the newspapers, the principle of the equal right to speak should be legally guaranteed for supporters and opponents However, from the people’s perspective a direct democracy alike. The design must clearly show that this ‘public speak- provides much greater possibility for subtlety and discrimi- ing space’ is of the nature of an advertisement. Any confu- nation than a purely representative system. In the latter, sion with editorial pieces must be prevented. voters can only choose between a limited number of total packages of political opinions (generally no more than 10): 3. Some weeks before the referendum, every voter should the political parties’ programmes. In practice, these virtually receive an information leaflet in which the essence of the never agree with the choices the voters would make them- proposal is explained, supporters and opponents briefly selves if they had to decide on the same issues. list their arguments, and political parties, trade unions, professional bodies, special interest groups, etc. announce A recent Gallup poll illustrated how serious this problem their voting recommendation. This type of brochure has is. The poll questioned 1,000 American voters about twenty been standard for a long time in Switzerland and various current political issues. It appeared that the people’s major- US states. ity preferences showed a mixture of so-called ‘conservative’ and so-called ‘progressive’ points of view. This mix was not Besides these positive measures, negative measures are also reflected in a single party programme. For example, Ameri- necessary. Election expenditure must be limited, not only for cans generally support a higher minimum wage (82%), the elections of representatives, but also for referendums. The compulsory registration of firearms (72%), and the re-estab- budgets of supporters and opponents of the citizens’ initia- lishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba (56%). These tive must be made public. (In the section of chapter 5 about are ‘progressive’ issues. But preferential racial treatment in California, we have shown why US judges rule that unlimited schools and businesses (so-called ‘positive discrimination’) spending on referendums falls under the freedom of speech is rejected by 85% of the people, 78% want a general reduc- principle, whereas they do accept restrictions on campaign tion in taxes, and 69% want the saying of prayers in public spending for elections because of the danger of corruption. schools to be legalized. These are more typically conservative In Europe, however, this subject is usually viewed quite differ- or liberal aims. There are also proposals that can count on ently.) Both the names of the major financiers of the campaign a majority among the general public, and on only very little and the amount of funding must be made public, which is sympathy among the political class. Gallup found that 56% already the case in many US states, including California. It is of Americans were in favour of the introduction of `school also possible to guarantee a minimum level of funding. A citi- vouchers’. This means that families receive the money to fi- zens’ initiative that has collected the necessary signatures for nance their free choice of school instead of the government a referendum has in any case proven that it has struck a chord directly financing education. Such far-reaching educational on a socially relevant subject. This can be rewarded by provid- freedom is not popular among politicians, who consider edu- ing the initiative committee with a basic level of funding, so cation as one of their most important means of exercising that initiatives with very little financial backing also get an social influence.

75 Suppose that a citizen supports a cross-section of the major- accepts the proposal, the citizens’ initiative has achieved its ity points of view mentioned above. There is no chance that goal. If not, the initiative can still go ahead, with either the he or she will find any party that expresses this combina- unaltered proposal or with a proposal that has been amend- tion of views. And even if such a party did actually exist, it is ed in the light of the parliamentary comments. It can then still quite uncertain what will happen with the point of view proceed to referendum provided that the initiative obtains concerned. After all, the party might end up in the opposi- a higher signature threshold, e.g. 2% of the electorate. This tion, or if it does actually become part of the government, combination of right of petition and referendum is defended it may abandon its point of view in exchange for the other in California by the American ‘League of Women Voters’ and coalition parties’ support for its other proposals, even if all in Germany by the ‘Mehr Demokratie’ (more democracy) as- the time a majority of the voters was in favour of the point sociation (see chapter 5, Bavaria). of view involved. In the majority of European ‘democracies’, the voice of the people is ‘a ripple in the water’. They can only In addition, two further options can be enabled: utter a single crude expression of support for the one party or the other – ‘socialist’ or ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. They are • If it does not approve the citizens’ proposal, the parliament not permitted, however, as rational, discriminating beings, to can formulate an alternative proposal. This system exists, decide on each issue on its own merits. In that context, it is for instance, at national level in Switzerland and at state fairly absurd for sitting elected representatives to claim a lack level in Bavaria. The voters then have three options: choose of subtlety and refinement in direct democracy. the citizens’ initiative, choose the parliamentary counterproposal, or reject both proposals (choose the status quo). It is true that in the majority of referendums (not all; see be- • The citizens’ initiative can even withdraw its own proposal low) there is only a choice between being for or against a pro- in favour of the parliamentary counter-proposal. This ap- posal. But every parliamentary decision is also made because proach can be useful for the citizens’ initiative if the parlia- the members of parliament vote for or against a proposal. mentary counter-proposal contains many elements of the However, what the critics mean is that the opinion-forming citizens’ proposal and retaining both proposals risks hav- process in direct-democratic decision-making ceases more ing both rejected, leaving a majority in favour of the status rapidly than in parliamentary decision-making. In principle, quo. This happened, for example, with the Swiss popular this is a realistic objection. In traditional referendums, the initiative ‘Farmers and consumers in favour of eco-friendly initiators come forward with an elaborated proposal, around agriculture’. This popular initiative aimed to grant farming which a public discussion then ensues; but the voters can subsidies only to companies that adhere to strict ecological no longer change the proposal, only accept or reject it. In standards. The parliament formulated a counter-proposal, parliament, the representatives can propose amendments, in which nevertheless preserved the essentials of the popular many cases up until just before the vote is taken. (Inciden- proposal. The initiators then withdrew their own proposal tally, this is not by any means in all cases: for example, with and, on 9 June 1996, the parliamentary counter-proposal international treaties, including EU treaties, parliaments was approved by 77.6% of the voters. cannot usually make any further amendments.) The integration of the right to petition and the legislative To refine this image, we must note that the opinion-forming citizens’ initiative, possibly supplemented with the two phase of a citizens’ initiative often occurs before the public measures mentioned above, enable the parliament’s capac- launch. In many areas, a citizens’ initiative only has a chance ity to produce well-considered proposals to be used to best of succeeding if it is supported by a broad coalition of or- effect. The democratic productivity of the parliament would ganisations. As a result of this, the proposal already bears be improved considerably by such teamwork with legislative the hallmark of the discussion and the consultation between citizens’ initiatives. The right to petition, sometimes (errone- the partners in such a coalition. Extreme proposals without ously) called citizens’ initiative, which exists in some Euro- broad public support virtually never succeed. On the other pean countries, is meaningless on its own. The members of hand, the opinion-forming phase in current parliamentary parliament are not obliged to do anything with the people’s practice is often seriously corrupted by enforced party disci- proposal and the citizens’ initiative has no means of respond- pline (by the so-called ‘Whips’ in the U.K., for example) and ing if parliament rejects or ignores its proposal. But as a prel- by political horse-trading. In general, it is the leaders of polit- ude to the citizens’ initiative, the right of petition undoubt- ical parties who dictate how the party or faction should vote, edly has great significance. It provides the initiative with the and this is quite frequently based on fairly crude horse-trad- opportunity to refine its proposal in the light of the parlia- ing between the political parties. If the MPs would actually mentary contribution and creates a special bond between the vote honestly, following their consciences, the dividing line popular initiative and parliament, which also reinforces the between supporters and opponents would hardly ever run legitimacy of parliament. exactly along party lines, whereas this is currently the case for the majority of votes. An additional possibility, which was also proposed by the Californian ‘League of Women Voters’, is to hold hearings Moreover, it is eminently possible to design referendum sys- for the citizens’ initiative. At an early stage of a citizens’ ini- tems so that there is indeed space for interim adjustment tiative, when only a relatively small number of signatures has and multiple-choice options. There is continually increasing been collected, hearings can be held within a specific statu- experience with such referendums. One possibility, which is tory framework, which can lead to the re-working and refin- used in some German states, is the link between the right ing of the proposal. of petition and a referendum. If a citizens’ group wants to launch a legislative proposal, it can first submit the proposal In Switzerland, moreover, there are various interesting ex- as a petition to the parliament with a relatively small number periments taking place at cantonal level with multiple-choice of signatures, e.g. 0.2% of the electorate. The representative voting. The canton of Berne is playing a pioneering role in body must then either accept the proposal from the citizens’ this area; for example, voters were able to choose between initiative or reject it, giving reasons. If the representative body five different proposals for the reorganisation of the canton’s

76 hospital system (Beedham, 1996). Also in Berne, there are In other words, the argument that parliamentary authority experiments with a system in which the voters were not lim- is undermined by referendums is not relevant. Parliament ited to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a legislative proposal, but could also is not a goal in itself – the parliament is there for democ- submit amendments. It is too early to be able to draw any racy; democracy is not there for the parliament. One cannot conclusions about this system yet. There are other possibili- therefore ask that democracy be limited out of respect for the ties that have not so far been tested anywhere. For instance, parliament. Benjamin Barber (1984) suggested allowing voting on a scale from ‘emphatic no’ to ‘emphatic yes’. In a certain sense, however, if direct democracy were introduced, it would actually restore the value of parliament, be- Sometimes opponents of direct democracy formulate their cause the citizens would be implicitly invited to demonstrate objection in yet another way. They argue that in referendums their confidence in every parliamentary decision. If citizens citizens allow all sorts of issues to play a role that have noth- do not launch an initiative after the parliament passes a law, ing to do with the referendum proposal, a phenomenon this can always be interpreted as an implicit motion of con- known as linking. “The referendum lends itself as an in- fidence. In the purely representative system, the people can- strument to mobilise general dissatisfaction. Expansion will not speak out against the parliament; consequently they also then run aground on reasons that have nothing to do with cannot express their confidence in the parliament, not even the expansion”, explained former EU Commissioner Frits implicitly. They can at most stay at home on election day; but Bolkestein, for example, about a possible Dutch referendum non-participation can be interpreted in very different ways. on the expansion of the European Union (NRC Handelsblad, 9 September 2000). However, it is mainly within the rep- If there is always the possibility of a citizens’ initiative being resentative system that linking is the order of the day. In launched, the parliament will be under pressure to legislate elections, after all, all sorts of issues are mixed up with each in accordance with the will of the people. The opportunity other, and the tangle is only artificially resolved when the for the parliament to contribute to the refinement of referen- voter makes his single mark on the ballot paper or presses dum proposals, including the parliamentary right to submit the voting button. What Bolkestein was targeting was not ref- an alternative proposal, has already been mentioned. erendums initiated by citizens, which are still not possible in the Netherlands, but one-off plebiscites drawn up by the gov- Those who claim that referendums damage the public cred- ernment (the only ‘referendum’ that the Dutch Constitution ibility of the parliament must realise that the public long allows). In such a situation it is more than likely that other is- ago lost its faith in parliament – long before the majority sues will get dragged into the public debate. After all, as citi- of countries introduced serious direct-democratic rights at zens themselves cannot initiate referendums, they then have the national level. In 2002, Gallup conducted a huge poll in to wait until the next opportunity they get to decide directly which 36,000 people from 47 countries were questioned on about an issue. By then dissatisfaction has had time to grow their level of trust in 17 ‘institutions’. This little list included and is only waiting for an opportunity to be unloaded onto the army, the government, the education system, the mass something. However, we are not arguing in favour of plebi- media, the trade unions, the IMF, the multinationals, etc. scites in this book, but for valid direct democracy in which In the league table of trust, parliaments were at the very bot- citizens themselves can launch initiatives for referendums at tom. 51% of those asked had little or no trust in their parlia- any time. The phenomenon of linking is unknown in Swiss ment, and only 36% had a moderate to high level of trust. direct democracy, the simple reason being that at all times Parliament scored particularly low in European countries. citizens can decide on every issue and can launch citizens’ Two thirds of the people questioned agreed that their coun- initiatives themselves. try was not governed according to the will of the majority. When asked: “Are things mainly going well with the world?”, In short, if politicians are really concerned about the ‘linking’ in most countries only a minority answered in the affirma- of unrelated issues, they must permit more direct democracy. tive: only 13% of Germans, 14% of Italians, 23% of Dutch and 25% of British. In other words: those who are happy to retain parliaments as they are, are busy keeping up appearances. g. Conflict with representative democracy In reality, the majority has long since lost its trust in parliaments under mainly representative systems. This argument is sometimes underpinned with the argument by some that the authority of parliament is undermined by Some opponents of referendums formulate this another referendums, and by others that the primacy of politics is way: that the primacy of politics is undermined by referen- threatened by referendums. dums. Their tacit assumption is apparently that ‘politics ‘ is the same as ‘parliament and government ‘. However, in the First note the fallacy: democracy is equated with ‘representa- ideal case, politics is a forum in which all citizens participate. tive democracy’, as if representation were the essence of Considered in this light, direct democracy will never detract democracy. Referendums would then threaten ‘democracy’. from the importance of politics, but actually give it a power- In reality it is not representation, but popular sovereignty ful boost. Direct democracy can lead to a thriving and crea- that is the essence of democracy. It is not only dictators such tive political forum. as Hitler and Stalin who have depicted themselves as representatives of the people, but also various absolutist kings Incidentally, the direct impact of the citizens’ initiative refer- throughout history. We have shown in chapter 2 that a purely endum must not be over-estimated. In 1996, a top year for representative system is a correct interpretation of democ- direct democracy in the US, a total of 102 citizen-initiated racy only under one specific circumstance – if the citizens referendums went to the vote across all the American states, have agreed to it. However, surveys uniformly indicate that whereas in the same year the elected legislators adopted more this has never been the case since the 1970s: the majority than 17,000 laws in all states. (Waters, 2002, p. 6) Half of consistently supports the introduction of direct-democratic all American states enjoy fairly extensive and frequently used decision-making. direct-democratic rights, so we can assume that even in one

77 of these states with a relatively extensive level of direct democ- That the mandating concept is not pure theory, but is also racy more than 99.9% of the laws are still adopted by elected intuitively recognised by the general public, is clear from politicians. In this context, it is fairly absurd to talk of a ‘dis- the fact, just mentioned, that the large majority of those who ruption’ of the legislative system by direct democracy. What never vote themselves are nevertheless still supporters of di- the critics are probably referring to is the indirect effect of ref- rect democracy. In a genuine democracy, every citizen must erendums: politicians cannot just force legislation through for have the freedom at every election to determine whether he which no support exists among the citizens. They must take or she wants to give a mandate to fellow-citizens or wants into account the current opinions among the various groups to vote him- or herself. It is perfectly conceivable that a citi- in the population and start building support for their propos- zen considers that he or she has too little expertise in social als in advance. But who could possibly object to this? decision-making and systematically mandates others. It is essential that he or she, and nobody else, judges his or her own competence. Both the absence of elections (open dicta- h. Overburdening and voting fatigue torship), and a system of compulsory voting rob individuals of their freedom to fully judge for themselves. According to this argument, referendums ask too much of the voters. Too much is demanded of them and they become The political scientist Kriesi has shown that knowledge of the less inclined to vote. As a result they forfeit representation, issue to be voted on, together with a general interest in poli- because it is usually the economically weaker people who tics, are by far the most important factors for participation in pull out soonest. referendums in Switzerland. The level of education, income and social class proved to have only a minor effect on partici- In Switzerland, the turnout for parliamentary elections has pation in referendums (for participation in Swiss elections, for decades been around 40% (the turnout for referendums this effect is even zero). It also appears that women tend to around 50%); that is lower than the parliamentary elections in vote less often than men in referendums (this applies more Germany (approximately 80%), or the presidential elections to older women than younger ones). Participation also seems in France (70% to 80%) or the United States (50% to 60%). to increase with age to a certain point, after which it tends to decline again, though not uniformly. Those who said that A relatively low voter turnout level is often attributed to ref- they were ‘fully aware’ of the referendum issue participated erendum fatigue. If that causal connection actually existed, four times as frequently as people who ‘were not aware’ of it might be resolved by increasing the signature threshold, the issue. The disparity was only slightly weaker when the which in Switzerland is very low (100,000 for a citizens´ ini- level of interest in politics was the main variable. When the tiative, or 2% of the electorate). This would make it more dif- two variables were combined i.e. for people who were both ficult for relatively small groups to launch citizens’ initiatives ‘fully aware’ of the referendum subject and admitted to be- that do not appeal to most of the people. ing ‘very interested’ in politics, the participation level was eight times as high as for people who were ‘not aware’ of the One must be careful with such conclusions, however. In a subject and said they were ‘not interested‘ in politics (Kriesi, purely representative democracy, the citizens have virtu- 2005, pp 118-122). Summarising: the most important reason ally no opportunity to influence policy in any way whatso- for not participating is that citizens believe that they do not ever. They only have the opportunity to vote every few years, have sufficient knowledge of the issue. which many then eagerly grasp. In a purely representative system, after all, there is a frustrating lack of opportunity to have ones say. In a well-developed direct-democratic system, i. The phrasing of the question can be supply and demand in respect of possibilities to express a manipulated view are more in balance and the people feel they have more freedom to choose between taking part in decision-making According to this objection, the question in a referendum directly or mandating others with the responsibility. can be asked in a misleading manner. As a result, voters can vote against their actual convictions. Prof. Jan Gijsels (Bel- We also know of no studies in which a large proportion of gian newspaper De Standaard, 5 November 1992) put it like people answer in favour of fewer referendums. On the con- this: “There is no referendum that is not disputed because of trary, the large majority of citizens who never vote are still how the question is asked.” supporters of direct democracy (Möckli, 1994, p. 184). In fact, the phrasing of the question is mainly a problem in High levels of participation in referendums and elections plebiscites, not in direct democracy. Plebiscites are non-bind- should always be encouraged, of course, but a referendum ing popular votes that are formulated by the ruling politi- turnout of 10% to 20% is not necessarily a problem. The cians and in doing so they often include different issues in a mandating principle plays the same essential role in direct- single question, and manipulate other conditions as well (see democratic decision-making as in parliamentary elections point ‘d’ for more information and examples). (see chapter 2). Even if only 10% of the voters actually vote in a plebiscite, the resulting decision is still much more widely In a genuine direct democracy, politicians cannot indiscrimi- supported than in the case of a parliamentary vote, in which nately change the phrasing of the question or the rules to only 0.005% of the electorate make the decision. The 10% suit themselves. The law stipulates the conditions for direct of voters in the direct people’s vote have just as good a man- democracy and these are the same for all citizens, whether date as the parliamentarians, with the advantage that they they are politicians or not. Moreover, direct democracy is dif- are much more numerous. On the other hand, the mandate ficult to reconcile with plebiscites that are drawn up by a rul- that is given by the non-voters to the voters in a referendum ing majority; on the one hand, they always lead to political is much more restricted than in an election, because there is abuse and, on the other, they are also unnecessary, because only one specific decision on the agenda and not a potentially the parliament and the government already have a mandate infinite series of decisions about all sorts of different issues. to act. In Swiss direct democracy, plebiscites by the ruling

78 majority are not permitted. The law defines the circumstanc- the picture is much clearer: people almost always know fairly es under which a referendum is held and lays down binding precisely what they are voting for or against. Despite this, rules for this. All changes to the constitution are subject to opponents of the popular referendum dishonestly claim that a compulsory referendum. In addition, there is the optional they have to cope with ‘ambiguous phrasing of the question’ or facultative referendum, by means of which citizens can in direct-democratic decision-making. challenge a law that has already been passed, and the citizens’ initiative, which can result in a referendum if all the conditions have been met. The referendum question must j. Conservatism, or enthusiastic activists always be stated simply and objectively – whether it is the proposal adopted by parliament accompanied by the simple According to some, a referendum system ensures that es- question as to whether one is for or against it (in this context, sential innovations are blocked, because the general public standardised, neutral wording is always used in Switzerland tends to want to preserve the status quo. Others claim exactly and California), or the citizens’ initiative (supported by the the opposite: that committed activists can use referendums required number of signatures). With citizens’ initiatives is it to take over a democracy, because the ‘silent majority’ doesn’t simple to establish legally (as is done in Switzerland) that the usually go out to vote. initiative relates to only one issue. Since in Switzerland the title of the citizens’ initiative is part of the referendum ques- However, exactly what is mean by ‘innovation’, and which tion, the ‘Bundeskanzlei’ (the ministry of general affairs) can points of view can be accurately labelled ‘left’ or ‘right’, is a reject a citizens’ initiative if it clearly has a misleading title. political judgement that should not be left to technocrats. The Green parties in, for example, Germany and the Netherlands Examples of conflict on all these issues are extremely rare. are in favour of far-reaching European integration, based on That is not only a question of regulations, but also of demo- what they consider to be ‘progressive’ arguments, whereas cratic culture. Since referendums and citizens’ initiatives are their sister parties in Scandinavia and the UK, for equally ‘pro- part of the order of the day in states such as Switzerland, gressive’ reasons, are actually very Eurosceptic. If ‘progressive’ California, Oregon, Bavaria, etc., they represent business as parties try to block the scaling down of social security – con- usual for politicians and civil servants who are used to deal- sidered as a ‘necessary modernisation’ by ruling conservatives ing with them in a transparent, citizen-friendly manner, just – is that a ‘progressive’ or a ‘conservative’ response? as ordinary elections are generally unblemished proceedings in European countries that have long experience with them. If we examine the behaviour of politicians, however, it is of It is almost unimaginable that a governing political party course also true that in some instances they obstinately resist in, for example, the Netherlands would use its position to modernisation. Direct democracy is itself an example, as is manipulate the elections by tampering with the rules. Some- the introduction of school vouchers that free the education day it will be just as unthinkable that Dutch political parties system from the grip of the state. It is easy to argue that these would abuse the direct-democratic decision-making process are modernisations without which society in the 21st century to get their own way. can only function with difficulty. A large majority of the population has been won for both measures, but politicians block Difficulties can arise with the phrasing of the question, espe- them because in this instance it is they who have an interest cially in situations where people have to vote ‘yes’ if they are in preserving the status quo. In other respects, politicians are ‘against’ a subject, or vice versa. For example, this was the actually ‘more progressive’ than citizens, but this can clearly case with the first referendums in Italy: in 1974, the oppo- have negative results. For example, we saw under point ‘b’ nents of divorce had to vote ‘yes’ (Budge, 1996). The Belfort above that politicians generally want a larger public sector referendum in Gent (1997) is another example: the munici- than citizens (also out of self-interest, because this increases pal council had phrased the question so that opponents of their power). As a result, purely representative systems lead to the Belfort car park had to vote ‘yes’. The initiators protested larger budgetary deficits than direct-democratic systems. about this. Ultimately, however, their fears turned out to be unfounded: the voters really did know how to cast their votes. An integrated democracy has both instruments for applying There appears to be no convincing example of a referendum a brake to slow down politicians who run too far ahead of the in which the majority view did not prevail because the voters public (the optional and the compulsory referendum), and in- misunderstood the question. struments which the public can use to press the accelerator if elected politicians do not want to change course fast enough Finally – at the risk, perhaps, of our narrative becoming (the citizens’ initiative). We argue for the introduction of both monotonous – we should also reiterate here that the oppo- the brake and the accelerator. Occasionally, it is the opponents nents of direct democracy use entirely different criteria for of referendums – when, for example, they are forced into a representative decision-making and direct decision-making. government coalition – who allow some direct democracy by In representative decision-making, voters are generally left introducing a form of referendum (preferably limited to the completely and frustratingly in the dark about the implica- relatively innocent optional referendum), with which citizens tions of their vote. They do not know the hidden agenda of can only say ‘no’ to laws already adopted by the politicians. the parties; they do not know which government coalition or which government programme will emerge. Party manifes- A glance at the referendum practice in Switzerland and tos say little. For example, they do not state which points will American states shows that conservative and progressive be swiftly dropped during coalition negotiations. Internation- groups have varying success with referendums. For many al treaties, taxes such as the tax on diesel fuel, the abolition decades in Switzerland, the citizens’ initiative was mainly of conscription to the armed services etc. (Dutch examples) used by progressive groups, while the optional referendum are simply imposed on citizens after the election: the often was more the instrument of choice for conservative groups; intricate details of these issues remain completely invisible however, this distinction has become less marked in recent in the representative ‘phrasing of the question’ – the election years. Progressive groups gained majorities in recent dec- manifesto. In the case of direct-democratic decision-making, ades in initiatives which include those for supplying heroin

79 to drug addicts, the protection of employees from the effects k. Better instruments than the referendum of the 24-hour economy, joining the United Nations, support for environmentally safe agriculture, the 1994 provision The first response of politicians when they are confronted that trans-Alpine freight must be transported by train with with the clamour for direct democracy is simply to ignore it. effect from 2004, the inclusion of an anti-racism article in If the clamour continues and grows, however, there comes a the Swiss Constitution, an increase in the tax on petrol, mak- moment at which ignoring it no longer succeeds. Politicians, ing rape within marriage a punishable offence, restrictions together with those who identify with them, often then go on on the genetic modification of organisms, the creation of a to propose alternative measures that, on the one hand, are civilian service alternative to compulsory military service, a intended to show that they are not deaf to the public demand moratorium on the building of nuclear power stations, sev- for more democracy, but, on the other, are not as threatening eral taxes on the use of cars and lorries, and the abolition to those in power as citizens’ initiative referendums. This is of the death penalty also in wartime. Conservatives obtained then presented as an attempt to find instruments that oper- approval for measures which include the following: lifelong ate ‘better’ than referendums. This was the case, for example, prison sentences for sex offenders considered by experts to in Belgium, where direct democracy was placed high on the be extremely dangerous and untreatable, several rules for re- political agenda under the pressure of massive demonstra- ducing budgetary deficits, the termination of several govern- tions (the ‘white marches’) in the second half of the 1990s, ment grants, as well as the rejection of several progressive but where politicians are currently returning to their old po- proposals coming from the government or from citizens’ ini- sitions and withdrawing their previous support for citizens’ tiatives (Butler and Ranny, 1994; Kaufmann et al., 2005). initiative referendums.

In recent decades, ‘progressive’ groups in California have In this context, the journalist Filip Rogiers quotes the argu- successfully used referendums for proposals including those ment of Belgian politician Dirk Holemans for ‘dialogic‘ in- for better environmental legislation, the legalised use of mar- stead of `direct’ democracy: “Dialogic democracy”, says Hole- ihuana for medical purposes, raising the minimum wage, mans, “differs fundamentally from direct democracy. In the limiting the effect of campaign funding in elections, increas- latter, the market model enters politics. It starts out from the ing the tax on cigarettes, prohibiting various toxic substanc- idea that, if you conduct a survey, you also obtain an insight es, securing several measures for the protection of animals, into what issues are current in a society – whereas democracy setting minimums for school budgets, and introducing vari- actually means that you provide people with an opportunity ous freedom-of-information disclosure requirements for the to question their own vision and possible change it. Only in benefit of consumers and voters. ‘Conservatives’ obtained this way do you create social support for necessary changes.” majorities for, among other things, reducing income tax and Dialogic democracy “is not direct democracy, it is a long way real-estate tax, stricter sentences for recidivists, termination from noting and adding up opinions, yes’s and no’s. Nor is it of bilingual education, termination of ‘positive discrimina- a shamefaced way of giving representative democracy legiti- tion’, the closing down of certain government services for macy. It is just a very prosaic word for democracy. A classic illegal immigrants, allowing paid work for prisoners, and in- example is the formula for the citizens’ panels. In a city or troducing a compulsory referendum for proposed increases a municipality, a representative group of citizens is brought in local taxes and tariffs (Allswang, 2000). Hajnal and Louch together around a specific issue. They are given all possible (2001, p. vii) concluded that during the 1980s, supporters opportunities and resources to form a thoroughly considered of the Democrats and the Republicans both had exactly the judgement. They can hear witnesses and experts. At the end same chance (62%) of being on the winning side in popular of their sitting, they deliver a judgement and propose a solu- votes; in the 1990s, Republican supporters were on the win- tion. It does not have to be a consensus; there is no need ning side only 2% more frequently than supporters of the of unanimity. Even citizens who have had to eat humble pie Democrats. Thus they keep each other virtually in balance. at least understand the reason for the final decision. There has been a dialogue, and confrontation, opinions have been The reverse claim that committed activists can hijack direct changed.” (Knack, 19 February 2000). democracy to get their extremist proposals put through has equally little substance. Swiss and American practice makes The tactic of this line of reasoning against direct democracy it clear that the voters are extremely cautious. If activists is clear. Direct democracy by means of citizens’ initiative ref- want to get a proposal adopted, they have to use the citizens’ erendums is first presented as a type of market survey, free initiative. We already saw in chapter 5 that in Switzerland of any social discussion or forming of opinions. Obviously only 10% of citizens’ initiatives are approved by the voters; no-one can find that really attractive. Then the alternative of in California, the figure is 40%, but since a lot of citizens’ a ‘dialogic’ democracy is presented, in which the citizens do initiatives are subsequently struck down by the courts, the actually obtain information, discuss things with each other final number also comes down to around 10%. When they and possibly change opinions. The confusion of concepts are unsure, voters tend to vote against citizens’ initiatives. that is carried out here is that between two pairs of opposing positions: ‘actual social opinion forming’ versus ‘no opinion In some respects, small, passionate groups actually have great- forming’, and ‘popular sovereignty’ versus ‘no popular sov- er chances in strictly representative systems. After all, in those ereignty’. Holemans and Rogiers reject the citizens’ initia- systems they only have to persuade a small number of politi- tive referendum on the basis of the first pair, arguing that cians. The European supranationalists are a typical example of social opinion forming is essential and is incompatible with a small, activist group, which has had a much larger influence the referendum, and then promote an alternative that guar- on the undemocratic development of the European Union by antees much so-called opinion forming but, unfortunately, means of representative systems (evidenced in the project of surrenders the people’s sovereignty. the European Constitution, for example) than they would have had in a direct democracy. The only reason that the European However, it is absurd to claim that a citizens’ initiative refer- Constitution has been provisionally shelved is as a result of the endum cannot be coupled with an intensive process of social referendums held in the Netherlands and France. opinion forming. Put even more forcefully, there is an a pri-

80 ori case that social debate will be much more intensive with This objection is much less valid for a referendum result. The binding referendums than with citizens’ panels, because in benefit of a public debate provoked by a referendum is that all the first case many more citizens are taking part in the proc- the citizens are confronted by several arguments over a long- ess, and they are more motivated to discuss the issue because er period of time. Opinion-forming among the citizens has they know that they will be taking the final decision. Neither generally crystallised better after a few weeks and will change Rogiers nor Holemans makes any effort whatsoever to sup- less easily under the influence of new information.” port their premise. They simply assert the incompatibility of the popular referendum and social opinion-forming as some- The referendum therefore turns out to be the most popular ad- thing obvious, and hope that the reader will blindly concur. ministrative innovation among the people. In 1998, the Dutch Then ‘alternatives’ (such as citizens’ panels) are presented as Social and Cultural Planning Board (1999, p. 37) polled popu- working methods that really do guarantee social opinion form- lar support in the Netherlands for five proposed innovations. ing, whilst the undermining of sovereignty that is attached to The referendum, with an 80% support level, scored highest, this ‘alternative’ receives as little attention as possible and is followed closely by the introduction of elected mayors (71%), stealthily presented as something acceptable. Rogiers implies the constituency system for parliamentary elections (55%), the that the citizens do not come together on their own initia- introduction of an elected Prime Minister (54%), and making tive, but that “a representative group is brought together”. By Holland a republic (10%). The survey produced virtually iden- whom? Rogiers does not say so, but the answer is, of course: tical results as a 1972 survey with the same questions, when by the elected politicians. The citizens do not constitute them- the referendum also came out on top, with 62% support. selves as a sovereign body, no: “…they are given all possible opportunities and resources to form a thoroughly considered opinion”. Are given? By whom? Again the explicit answer is l. Danger to the country long overdue. And at the end of the ride the citizens do not make a sovereign decision, no, they “... propose a solution”. This argument is often cited in Belgium, among other places. To whom? And who adopts or rejects the solution? The implicit answer, once again, is: the politicians. Here too it should be noted first and foremost that the state is there for the people, and not the people for the state. If a The political scientist Van Prague (2000) systematically state can only continue to exist by suppressing the develop- compared the optional referendum to two other instruments ment of democracy, then that state has no right to exist (in of ‘participative democracy’ that are popular among Dutch its present form), because that is clearly not what the people politicians: the citizens’ survey (also called citizens’ forum or themselves want. citizens’ monitor), and interactive policy-making (also called the open-plan process). In the citizens’ survey – on the in- The Belgian ‘Royal Controversy’ – the debate about the return structions of civil servants or politicians – a fixed, representa- of King Leopold from exile after the Second World War – can tive group of citizens is regularly questioned about all kinds under no circumstances be quoted as an argument against of issues. In interactive policy-making, people are asked to direct democracy. One must make a sharp distinction be- attend meetings at which citizens, together with civil serv- tween binding citizens’ initiative referendums and so-called ants and/or politicians, draw up plans for resolving a specific ‘plebiscites’ or ‘popular referendums’. The latter are held by problem identified by the administration. those in power to create a special legitimacy for their own plans (see point ‘c’ for further information and examples). Van Praag points out that the citizens’ survey and the interactive policy-making process are held at the initiative of the In the case of the Belgian Royal Controversy, the plebiscite authorities, whereas the referendum is held at the initiative was a last resort for the political elite to escape from the stale- of citizens; that there is a much less intensive public debate mate that had arisen within the representative system. After with the citizens’ survey and interactive policy-making, and this system had become bogged down completely, an appeal far fewer citizens are involved than with the referendum; was made to the deus ex machina of the plebiscite. and that the position of the civil servants and politicians is much more dominant with the citizens’ survey and inter- The 1950 plebiscite in Belgium was an evil caricature of active policy-making than with the referendum. Van Praag direct-democratic decision-making in every respect. In the thus concludes that for these reasons the referendum is an first place, the outcome of the ballot was not binding (and instrument to serve the citizens and that the citizens’ survey ultimately it was a minority that got its way on the issue). and interactive policy-making are instruments in the service Secondly, this plebiscite did not come about at the initiative of the official policy-makers. of the people, but rather at the initiative of the political class, after they themselves had allowed the situation to become It is worth noting, incidentally, specifically in relation to the completely confused. Thirdly, all the political parties, and proposal of Rogiers and Holemans, that Van Praag, who car- the King himself, used different criteria to interpret the re- ried out studies on the level and quality of public debate for sult. “During the forming of the first Eyskens government several municipal referendums in the Netherlands, correctly in the summer of 1949, the Socialists presented the 66% points out that the opinion-forming process for citizens using demand, but the Liberals made a distinction: for them, the citizens’ surveys is much less in-depth than with referen- 70% or more meant an immediate return of the King, less dums: “It is, moreover, interesting that in a survey citizens than 55% would require abdication, and a figure in between are asked for their opinion on issues that they have usually would serve as an indicator for the parliament. (...) For Paul- considered only rarely or not at all. There is thus a danger that Henri Spaak, 66% was sufficient counted nationally, but the the recording of citizens’ views only by means of an inquiry Belgian Socialist Party chairman Buset demanded at least represents merely a snapshot, which can easily change again a 60% majority in the Walloon provinces, in Brussels, and under the influence of new arguments. This even applies, al- in Flanders. Then the debate on the plebiscite became even though to a lesser extent, to a multiple-choice survey, in which more intense, and new thresholds were formulated.” (De- citizens are encouraged to think about alternative policy ideas. wachter, 1992) The King himself set the threshold at 55%,

81 but ultimately no generally accepted agreement on the inter- cession to the European Economic Area in December 1992, pretation of the result emerged within the political class. No whereas most of the majority German-speaking population wonder that the entire thing ended in chaos. In the whole voted against (ultimately producing an overall majority na- of Belgium, 58% of the voters were in favour of a return, tionally). In September 1997, most German-speaking Swiss but whereas a majority voted for return in Flanders, there approved a reduction in unemployment benefit, whereas the was a majority against return in the Walloon provinces. The French-speakers rejected the law by a large majority (which outcome was subsequently rejected by a number of social ultimately produced a narrow majority nationally). These re- groups and parties, and these tried to block the return of sults did not lead to ‘community tensions’. Secondly, such the King. Leopold agreed to abdicate anyway when his son problems will occur much less if there is a consistent federal reached the age of 21, and Baudouin was proclaimed king state structure within which to work. Only those issues that the day after Leopold’s abdication. must be decided at a wider level, due to the nature of the issues themselves, must also be voted on at that level. Within a The Royal Controversy is quoted as an example to show that federal context, the logical outcome of the Royal Controversy different language communities can vote differently and that would have been that Flanders would retain the monarchy this can tear a country apart. Two fundamental observations and the Walloon provinces would not, because in the case of must be made here. First, it is not true that differing vot- the Royal Controversy there is absolutely no practical reason ing results within different language groups automatically why one community would have to cede this point to the ma- threaten federal unity. In Switzerland, there are many exam- jority in another community. The problem arose, therefore, ples of such divergent voting results. For instance, the ma- because the decision-making took place in the context of an jority of French-speaking Swiss voted for their country’s ac- authoritarian and unitary state.

6-1: How direct democracy was silently In 1932, the Socialists launched another citizens’ initiative removed in Germany after which asked for a rise in the rate of pay. By that time, parliament had already been paralysed and the government the Second World War was operating using emergency statutes. The government responded to the socialist initiative with a pay rise, where- After the First World War, the German empire became a upon the citizens’ initiative was prematurely abandoned. republic and Berlin became its capital. In 1919, the constitution of the Weimar Republic came into effect and it Citizens’ initiatives were therefore never rewarded with contained the principle of the referendum copied from the formal success under the Weimar republic. All legislative Swiss example. In practice, however, the referendum could power remained in the hands of the parliament. This par- not work, mainly because a 50% participation quorum was liament transferred all power to Adolf Hitler in March 1933, imposed. Strictly speaking, according to the constitution, by means of the notorious ‘Ermächtigungsgesetz’(enabling this quorum only applied to the corrective referendum and law), even though the Nazis had never obtained the support not to the citizens’ initiative. Nevertheless, in practice the of a majority of the German citizens in any election. quorum was also demanded for citizens’ initiatives. The facts actually undermine the claim that the Nazis came Ultimately only two referendums were held, both of which to power by means of democracy. The Nazis actually came to failed because the participation quorum was not reached. power by means of the representative system. The majority of There was an initiative in 1926 concerning the expropria- the citizens had never voted for the Nazis at a time when the tion of the property of members of the nobility. The ma- Nazis had still left most of their real plans vague or secret. If jor landed aristocrats had asked for extremely high levels the Nazis had presented their real plans – including commit- of compensation for the properties that were expropriated ting genocide and the launching of wars of aggression – to after the First World War. At a time of explosive inflation, the population in a referendum, it is virtually unimaginable the state could only raise the money by heavily taxing the that they would have gained a majority of the votes. What ordinary citizens. The popular initiative to oppose this Hitler himself believed about (direct) democracy must be measure was started by the communist party; the social- evident from his argument against ‘parliamentary democ- ists and many citizens’ groups supported it. Against this racy’ in ‘Mein Kampf’: “Opposed to this is the true Germanic initiative ‘the mother of all boycott campaigns’ was run: the democracy, with its free choice of a leader who commits him- powerful supporters of the nobility called openly for a boy- self to accept total responsibility for whatever he chooses to cott, supported by a majority of the press. Because, under do or not to do. In this [Germanic democracy] there are no these circumstances, only the supporters of the initiative popular votes by a majority on individual issues, but only the went to vote, it meant de facto that the secrecy of the vote determinations [Hitler uses a word which has overtones of was compromised. In the rural areas in particular, many ‘destiny’] of a single individual who must then stand behind workers stayed at home after threats from landowners and his decisions with all his powers and his whole being.” (Hit- factory owners. In the end only 39% of the electorate voted, ler, 1943/1925, p. 99). In a speech about the “Führerstaat” of which 98.5% voted for the initiative. The 50% threshold to 800 party members on 29 April 1937, Hitler spoke his was not reached, therefore, and the landed aristocracy won mind even more clearly: the state “has the right to assume its battle thanks to the high participation quorum. In 1929, dictatorial power, and the duty to force others to obey it. That a second referendum was organised by right-wing parties is why our state, too, has not been built on referendums at all on the question of the compensation payments. At the end – something I wish to emphasise – but rather it is our aim to of the day only 14.6% of the voters turned out for this refer- persuade the people of the necessity for whatever happens. endum, and the result was therefore also declared invalid. (...) Now people might say to me: ‘Yes, but you also held a ref-

82 erendum.’ But first I acted. I acted first, and only afterwards Direct-democratic decision-making was also constitution- did I then want to show the rest of the world that the German ally provided for in West Berlin after the Second World War. people supported me. That was the reason for it. Had I been All the political powers in Berlin kept quiet about this con- convinced that the German people would not perhaps have stitutional option, and the provision was finally scrapped in been able to go along with us on the matter, I would still have 1974 with no public debate. acted, but then I would not have held a referendum.” (speech reprinted in Frei, 1987, p. 190-195). The Nazis briefly flirted Opponents of direct democracy clearly lived on both sides with the idea of the public assembly. In many places in Ger- of the Iron Curtain. many from 1933 onwards, they built so-called “Thingplätze” (‘thing squares’, “Thing” or “Ting” being the ancient name for public assembly parliaments in Scandinavia and parts of 6-2: About compulsory voting Britain), which nevertheless had nothing to do with direct- democratic decision-making, but were where the popula- Belgium and Greece are the last two European countries to tion was supposed to passively watch the Nazis’ propaganda retain compulsory voting. Both these countries also have an meetings. But from 1935 onwards, the Nazis decided to put exceptionally high public deficit, with a relatively strongly an end to this, and they prohibited the further use of the developed black economy, and lack any form of decisive ref- ‘thing squares’ (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing). erendum (situation as of summer 2006).

In 1948, a ‘Parliamentary Council’ was appointed in Bonn The Christian Democrats and the Socialists defend com- (not elected by the people), which had to design a new consti- pulsory voting. The first argument is that, without compul- tution for West Germany. It is striking that this Council used sory voting, it is particularly the socially weaker people who ‘the experience of Weimar’ as a reason for not introducing would not turn out to vote, which would seriously weaken direct democracy in Western Germany. The first President the representativeness of the outcome. With compulsory of the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World voting, all the social classes have equal representation in War, Theodor Heuss, in particular promoted this absurd in- the (indirect) decision-making process. terpretation of pre-war German history. Heuss had been a member of the 1933 parliament and, though not a Nazi sym- This argument is questionable for several reasons. Com- pathiser, had nonetheless approved the ‘Ermächtigungsgesetz’. pulsory voting does not create the competence to cast a In an introduction to the post-war West-German Constitu- responsible vote, but encourages the casting of protest tion Heuss wrote: “The plebiscitary form of democracy, with votes and blank ballots. It can be shown that abolition of its popular initiative and referendum (‘Volksbegehren’ and compulsory voting actually focuses attention on the groups ‘Volksentscheid’), which the Weimar republic copied from which tend to participate least in voting. Precisely because the Swiss tradition, has also been removed from the reper- the passive group can in many cases make the difference toire of German legislative instruments. This led for a time between a majority or a minority, they can attract the full to the cheap reproach that the Parliamentary Council had attention of the political parties, because their votes can be deprived the people of a fundamental element of democracy. won (this argument was used, for example, by the Agalev But, in the light of past experiences, it was its fundamental green group politician Boutmans, Gazet van Antwerp news- duty to protect the still insecure state from the depredations paper, May 1997). In Switzerland, approximately 30% of of lurking demagogues and to ground binding responsibility the electorate always vote, approximately 45% vote selec- in the representative system”. (Weihrauch, 1989, p. 40). tively, and approximately 25% are rarely persuaded to vote (Möckli, 1994, p. 206). There is therefore a large group of In other words: the results of the failure of parliamentary voters who can potentially be mobilised, and on whom the democracy were used to remove direct democracy. The con- politicians can focus their powers of persuasion. It is far sequences for European history were immense. If, after the from clear whether the effect predicted by Boutmans does Second World War, a direct-democratic political practice in fact play a role in countries without compulsory voting. could have developed in Germany, more or less following However, there is just as little proof that compulsory vot- the Swiss example, the democratic map of the world at the ing leads to better representation of the groups that tend end of the 20th century might have looked very different. to participate least in voting. Extreme right-wing parties, for example, obtain a large proportion of their votes from What is particularly remarkable is that the constitutions voters in the weaker social groups, even though in practice of the former DDR (communist East Germany), and of they are least good at defending the economic and social Berlin did initially provide for the citizens’ initiative refer- interests of those groups. endum. Shortly after the war, the SED – the united party that emerged from the enforced merger of the socialist and An argument against compulsory voting is that it removes communist parties in the Soviet zone – even campaigned the intrinsic motivation for taking part in voting. Someone actively for the direct-democratic ideal. In fact, this party who is compelled to vote no longer does it of their own free was simply seeking to achieve a goal that had previously will and insight. Voluntary participation in voting is not been set out in the socialist programmes of the 19th century. based on selfish calculations. For the individual citizen, the Some popular referendums were actually held, for example economic benefit of voting is, after all, nothing compared on the dispossession of war criminals. After Germany was to the expense of taking part in voting – such as the time divided, the SED came to power in East Germany and inter- it costs. So voting is not a rational act for a ‘calculating citi- est in direct democracy disappeared without trace. Despite zen’. Nevertheless, people do go out to vote and evidently this, direct democracy remained provided for in the DDR do so with unselfish motives. Perhaps they miscalculate the Constitution until 1968, the year of the Prague spring, benefit to themselves, but much more probably they vote when the provision was removed without public debate. from solidarity with a group, from a sense of citizenship,

83 or on principle. Voluntary participation in voting is already is forbidden, even if the majority of the people want this. If a form of social capital, and that social capital is destroyed making social judgements is considered a civic duty, it must when voting becomes compulsory. also be a civic duty to directly express the judgements made. This is not possible in the purely representative system: one Defenders of compulsory voting also consider participation can then only choose complete party programmes, which al- in voting as a civic duty. Our society has various duties of most never correspond with ones own views. The represent- this type. Thus every citizen is expected to offer assistance ative system thus causes all sorts of distortions, such as the to someone who is in need, or – if he or she is called to do ‘cross-pressure effect’: voters who cannot find any suitable so – to accept jury duty, or perhaps help out in a polling sta- party to represent them find it easier to abstain from voting. tion at election time. From this point of view, compulsory In the Netherlands, for instance, this impact is seen among voting reflects our moral duty to concern ourselves with the Christian workers: if they vote Christian Democrat (CDA), ins and outs of society, to form an opinion to the best of our they are not voting for a party which supports the workers, ability about possible solutions to society’s problems, and to yet if they vote for the Labour Party (PvdA), they will not be express this opinion prudently. furthering Christian values. As a result, Christian workers show a significantly higher tendency not to vote (Smeenk, This argument must be taken seriously. There are some 1996, p. 236). One does not solve this group’s problem by forms of mutual assistance that citizens cannot reasonably compelling them to vote. Their real problem is that they can- withhold from each other, and one can argue that the col- not say what they actually want to say by means of purely lective demands in a society require everyone’s time and representative elections. Only direct democracy can properly attention. In practice one notes, however, that the parties in solve the problem of this group of voters, and we all belong Belgium that pronounce themselves in favour of compul- to such groups in one way or other. sory voting simultaneously resist the introduction of direct democracy. This totally undermines the argument in favour Anyone who advocates compulsory voting, but simultane- of compulsory voting. The combination of compulsory vot- ously rejects direct democracy is not credible. Compulsory ing and a purely representative system is perverse. People voting, hand in hand with direct democracy, is basically are compelled to express an opinion, because this is their defensible. But then one must also accept that the citizens so-called civic duty. But absurd restrictions are placed on themselves must ultimately be allowed to decide – in a di- their opportunities for doing so – according to these sup- rect-democratic way – on the possible retention of compul- porters of compulsory voting, the citizens are only allowed sory voting,. As long as that does not happen, compulsory to choose parties; even worse, they are required to surren- voting can only be considered as an instrument of certain der their rights, even if they would prefer to exercise these political parties to cloak themselves in a cheap aura of ‘rep- rights themselves directly. Expressing ones views directly resentativeness’, in which, ultimately, only they still believe.

84 7. Direct democracy in the United Kingdom

A brief history of British democracy ern neighbour. In 1603, the two Crowns were unified. In 1707, the two states joined together in an Act of Union The full title of this geographically small, but historically which established the United Kingdom of Great Britain. extremely powerful, country is “The United Kingdom Scotland was clearly the weaker partner but the Act of Un- of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. ‘Great Britain’ is ion preserved key aspects of Scottish autonomy. Scotland composed of England, Scotland and Wales. Wikipedia has retained its own Church, its own legal system and its own a useful summary definition: “The United Kingdom is a education system. Joining with England, however, meant political union made up of four constituent countries: Eng- that Scotland lost its parliament, although it secured a new land, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The United one in 1999. Kingdom also has several overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. The Crown has a rela- Northern Ireland tionship with the dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands; they are part of the British Isles but not Ireland, like Wales, was never a single state. It was divided part of the United Kingdom and are a possession of the into various Catholic clan chiefdoms until England defeat- Crown. A constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom ed two of the big Ulster clan chiefs and seized their lands has close relationships with fifteen other Commonwealth in 1607. This land was then reallocated to settlers from Realms that share the same monarch – Queen Elizabeth II Britain, most of whom were Scottish Protestants. Protes- – as head of state.” tant ascendancy was consolidated in 1690 when William of Orange followed James II to Catholic Ireland and defeated That political union was only finally agreed in 1921. Today, his forces at the Battle of the Boyne. William set up a Dub- the ‘united’ Kingdom is under severe strain, with consid- lin parliament. But following yet another Irish rebellion an erable centrifugal forces in evidence. Where devolution of Act of Union was passed by the Westminster parliament power in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland helped to in 1800. Ireland was absorbed into the United Kingdom strengthen the sense of identity in these regions/nations, and was governed directly from London. The four nations the majority English portion of the UK has been undergo- of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were now fused ing an identity crisis, asking itself: ‘What does it mean to be together into a single state – the United Kingdom of Great English?’ and re-discovering older symbols such as the flag Britain and Ireland. of St. George. Opposition to British rule never went away and the Catholic England population never accepted their subordination. Various bills for Irish Home Rule (what today we would call ‘devolution’) The nation at the core of the union is England. First unified were introduced in the Westminster parliament, but all were under Roman occupation in 55 BC, England was later carved lost. Irish nationalists led an uprising in Dublin in Easter up into seven separate kingdoms before being reunited in 1916. After the First World War, Catholic rebels based in the 1016, only to fall to the invading Norman army in 1066. Ever south continued to fight for independence while Protestants since 1016, England has been a single country under a single in the north armed themselves in readiness to resist their Crown. By international standards, this makes it a remark- absorption into a new, Catholic, Irish state. Faced with an ably old nation. Between 1016 and 1707, England was a sov- impossible dilemma, Britain set up separate parliaments for ereign nation-state. However, it ceased to be a nation-state Dublin and Belfast in 1920. in 1707 when it joined with Scotland in a new, merged state. Ever since then, England has been one constituent nation in In 1921 the twenty-six southern counties were allowed to the United Kingdom. leave the United Kingdom and form the Irish Free State. The remaining six counties in the north, most of them heavily Wales Protestant, remained part of the UK, which now became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Wales was never a unified state. The country consisted of fragmented chiefdoms until the English Crown annexed half Unlike the Welsh, the Scots and the English, the people of of it in 1277, with the remainder following in 1536. Today Northern Ireland retained their own parliament. The Prot- Wales is one of four nations that make up the United King- estant majority had permanent control of this parliament at dom. Never having been an independent kingdom, but being Stormont and they used it to further their interests. In the an annex of England, it was subject to English law; it was run late 1960s, Catholics launched a series of civil rights pro- from Westminster; the Church of England was imposed as tests. Gradually, as the protests escalated, the Catholic and its official Church: and the English language was imposed as Protestant communities began to fight, and troops from Brit- the official language. Wales did not ‘join’ England; it was uni- ain were sent in to restore order. fied by England and became England’s first conquest. In 1972, Britain closed the Stormont parliament and im- Scotland posed direct rule from Westminster. After years of ‘trou- bles’ and endless talks, a peace deal was struck in 1998 Unlike Wales, Scotland was once an autonomous and uni- between the British and Irish governments and various fied state under a single Scottish Crown. For several cen- Northern Ireland parties. It is, however, a very fragile peace. turies, the English and Scottish kingdoms skirmished. (Acknowledgement: this section is based in large part on Gradually, however, Scotland fell under the growing eco- Dearlove and Saunders (2000), “Introduction to British nomic and political influence of its more powerful south- Politics”).

85 The parliamentary system liam III, whose agreement to the English Bill of Rights introduced a constitutional monarchy, though the supremacy of The name ‘Westminster’ is often used as shorthand for the the Crown remained. For the third time, a Convention Par- primary parliament of the UK, consisting of the two ‘houses liament, i.e. one not summoned by the king, was required to of parliament’ (since 1999 there has also been a separate Scot- determine the succession. tish Parliament in Edinburgh, and parliamentary Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland). Some claim for Westminster The House of Commons evolved at some point during the the title of ‘mother of parliaments’, but although it is certainly 14th century and has been in continuous existence since. old – its origins lie in the 13th century – the Westminster par- The House of Commons (the “lower house”) was once far liament is not the oldest parliament in the British Isles. The less powerful than the House of Lords (the “upper house”), small but historically significant Isle of Man (between the UK but is now by far the dominant branch of Parliament. The and Ireland) has a claim to have the oldest continuous parlia- House of Commons’ legislative powers exceed those of the ment in Europe – the Tynwald, descended from the Norse House of Lords; under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords’ Thingvollr (= assembly field) founded there in the late th9 cen- power to reject most bills was reduced to a mere delaying tury (the Icelandic ‘Althingi’ was established in 930 AD). power. The Government of the United Kingdom is nominally answerable to the House of Commons; the Prime Minister But there was also a much older tradition of (possibly open- stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of air) councils in Britain, going back to the Anglo-Saxon pe- the lower house. riod (5th-11th centuries). There is a record from the 7th century of annual meetings of the king’s councillors at the so-called No written constitution – no popular sovereignty – ‘witenagemot’ (literally ‘wise man/councillor meeting), and there were forms of decision-making by popular assembly at few direct-democratic rights the local level. In Britain, as in most nominally representative democracies – especially those which have been, or still are, monarchies – William of Normandy’s victory over the English in 1066 representative and participatory rights have always had to be brought a feudal system, in which the king sought the ad- prised out of the hands of kings or other rulers. Even when, vice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before as in Britain, the real power of the monarchy has almost making laws. In 1215 the tenants-in-chief secured the Magna completely gone, the old hierarchical attitudes often remain, Carta from King John, which established that the king could leaving their imprint on supposedly democratic ‘representa- not levy or collect any taxes (except the feudal taxes to which tive’ systems. So the British Government is ‘Her Majesty’s they were hitherto accustomed), save with the consent of his Government’ and there is still a ‘House of Lords’ (finally un- royal council, which slowly developed into a parliament. In dergoing radical reform, but still containing a proportion of 1265, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester summoned hereditary peers). There is still a ‘Royal Prerogative’ which the first elected Parliament. The franchise in parliamentary gives the monarch certain powers – but only at the request elections for county constituencies was uniform throughout of the Prime Minister, in effect giving the latter the ability to the country, extending to all those who owned the freehold of bypass parliament (Tony Blair threatened to use the Royal land to an annual rent of 40 shillings. In the boroughs, the Prerogative in 2003 to declare war on Iraq if parliament op- franchise varied across the country; individual boroughs had posed his plans to support Bush). varying arrangements. This set the scene for the so-called “Model Parliament” of 1295 adopted by Edward I. By the “The liberal state was democratized [by the 1867 and 1884 reign of Edward III (1327-1377), Parliament had been sepa- Representation of the People Acts] but those in authority and rated into two Houses: one including the nobility and higher power who recognized the inevitability of democracy were clergy, the other including the knights and burgesses, and no nevertheless eager to manage democratic politics, to limit it, law could be made, nor any tax levied, without the consent of and to entrench a conservative democracy. There was a con- both Houses, as well as that of the Sovereign. cern to rule out direct participation; ‘popular government’; the struggle for equality; and ‘collectivism’ and socialism, in The Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 treated Wales as part of favour of a pattern of limited, liberal, democracy that would England and brought Welsh representatives to Parliament. work with and within the prevailing economic system”. When Elizabeth I was succeeded in 1603 by the Scottish (Dearlove and Saunders, 2000, p.51) King James VI, who became also James I of England, the countries both came under his rule but each retained its own Britain is unique in Europe in not having a written constitu- Parliament. James I‘s successor, Charles I, quarreled with tion. What passes for a constitution is a collection of laws, Parliament, dissolving it no less than three times. The ten- conventions and ‘understandings’. One constitutional writer sion between king and parliament finally led to the English defined it as “what the people who work it think it is”, and Civil War (in fact three wars). Estimates suggest that around the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is quoted as saying 10 percent of the three kingdoms’ population may have died that “the British Constitution has always been puzzling and during the civil wars. Ultimately, the parliamentary forces always will be” – scarcely a satisfactory state of affairs for a 21st- under Cromwell triumphed and, to the horror of large parts century country. Though there may be some advantages in of Europe, Charles was publicly beheaded in 1649. Thus it such lack of definition, it means in practice that governments was Britain which experienced the first anti-monarchical with a comfortable majority can in certain respects ‘make it revolution, 140 years before the more famous revolution of up as they go along’. Under New Labour, for example, there 1789 in France. After Cromwell‘s death the Restoration of has been a clear weakening of Parliament and a centralisation 1660 restored the monarchy and the House of Lords. of power in the Cabinet and the person of the Prime Minis- ter. Dearlove and Saunders (Introduction to British Politics, Amidst fears of a Roman Catholic succession, the so-called 2000, p.58) comment: “At one time, the prime minister was Glorious Revolution of 1688 deposed James II (James VII regarded as primus inter pares – first among equals – but it of Scotland) in favour of the joint rule of Mary II and Wil- has been argued that the power of the Prime Minister has in-

86 creased to such an extent that it makes better sense to talk of significant that there is a much stronger sense of the principle prime-ministerial government and a quasi-presidency”. of popular sovereignty in Scotland; about which more later.

Former Tory Party minister Lord Hailsham’s description of the British political system as an “elective dictatorship” comes UK ‘referendum’ history from a lecture he gave in 1976. In that lecture he criticized the constitution and called for ‘nothing less than a written There are no direct-democratic rights at the national level in constitution for the United Kingdom, and by that I mean one the U.K. As a result of an Act passed in 2000, there is now which limits the powers of Parliament’. a local right of initiative leading to a binding referendum, but only on a single issue: the option of directly electing a lo- “Britain’s democracy has always been incomplete. We have cal mayor. To force a referendum, the initiative group needs never enjoyed firm guarantees of basic human rights. Our to collect the signatures of 5% of the local electorate. This voting system has never been fair. Our system of government meagre initiative right has been used a total of six times to has always been highly centralised. Parliament has been far date. All other referendums are more properly termed ‘plebi- too subservient to the Executive. We live under a political scites’, as they are initiated by the government. There has system which, by its nature, produces arrogant and unrepre- been only one national ‘referendum’ (in 1975, on joining sentative government”. (Policy statement at the launch of the the EEC; approved). There have been eight regional ‘refer- Social and Liberal Democrats in 1988.) endums’, mostly on the devolution of power to the ‘old kingdoms’ of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: Politics is party-based and confrontational rather than issue- • 1973: should Northern Ireland remain in the UK? based and consensual. The victorious party forms ‘Her Maj- Majority ‘yes’ esty’s Government’, and the next largest party the ‘official Op- • 1979 (2): should Scotland and Wales have their own position’. The form of the debating chambers in both Houses devolved assemblies? ‘No’ reinforces the confrontational style. The system exists prima- • 1997 (2): Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly? ‘Yes’ rily to maintain a monopoly on power by the three main par- • 1998: Greater London Authority and directly elected ties, so that Britain could legitimately be termed a ‘partycracy’ mayor of London? ‘Yes’ rather than a democracy. The primary motivation appears to be • 1998: ‘Good Friday Agreement’, including an assembly the preservation or enhancement of the party’s ‘market share’, for Northern Ireland. ‘Yes’ achieved by a focus on the delivery of identifiable and measura- • 2004: should there be a regional assembly in the ble ‘products’ and ‘quality of service provision’ amounting to lit- North-East of England? ‘No’ tle more than bribery of the electorate. Recently, it has emerged that both New Labour and the Conservatives have received very There have been 31 mayoral referendums/plebiscites (11 ap- large amounts of money from backers (totalling around £30 proved, 20 rejected). Only six of these were genuine referen- million for both parties). The money was given in the form of dums launched by a citizens’ initiative. Average turnout was ‘loans’ rather than ‘donations’ in order to circumvent the rules only 29%, with a high of 64% and a low of 10%. There has also on the disclosure of all large sources of money. There is a sus- been an increase in the use of advisory ‘referendums’ at the picion that certain ‘honours’ (including membership of the local/city level e.g. the decision by the Bristol Council in 2001 Lords) have been awarded as a result of the lenders’ largesse. to hold a local referendum on the level of council tax. Four options were presented: no increase; 2% increase; 4% increase; Two-thirds of the constitutions of the countries of Europe 6% increase, and the council announced that it would accept endorse the principle of ‘popular sovereignty’: “all power the result as binding. The turnout was 40.2% and a majority derives from the people”. The British Parliament (effectively voted for no increase. This was the first referendum at which e- the House of Commons) traditionally claims sovereignty for voting was used, in additional to postal and ‘freephone’ voting. itself, though given the absence of a formal constitution and (E-voting was also used in a similar referendum in Croydon). the simple fact that the parliament is elected by the people and is therefore technically subservient to it, the claim lacks The conduct of all national and European elections and nation- a sound logical basis. al and regional referendums is overseen by an independent Electoral Commission, whose website states: “We are an inde- Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote in 1989 (in an pendent body that was set up by the UK Parliament. Our mis- article for the Guardian) “The appalling insight supplied by sion is to foster public confidence and participation by promot- the Thatcher experience is that there are no real checks and ing integrity, involvement and effectiveness in the democratic balances in the British Constitution. The doctrine of the sov- process.” The main functions of the Commission in respect of ereignty of parliament means that the tyranny of the parlia- referendums are to: comment on the intelligibility of the ques- mentary majority is absolute. Yes, the first-past-the-post sys- tion (set by government or local authority); register campaign tem has given us strong government and I, for one, have had organizations as ‘permitted participants’; appoint lead cam- strong government up to the back teeth.” paign organizations on both sides of the referendum question; monitor referendum expenditure limits and donations; desig- A significant number of MPs in the current parliament appear nate the Chief Counting Officer at each referendum. to contest the claim: a so-called ‘Early Day Motion’ has attracted nearly 60 signatures of support for a change to the voting sys- Although the Electoral Commission’s role is currently rela- tem. The motion declares: “This House believes that the es- tively restricted, its importance lies in it being independent sence of democracy is the sovereignty of the people, and that of government and in having a structure which could fairly the people are entitled to choose how that sovereignty is ceded easily expand to meet possible future demands for more to Government on their behalf; ...” There is little chance that direct democracy. That it is not entirely toothless has been the motion will be debated, let alone accepted, but it represents shown by the fact that it involved itself in the dispute over a significant sign of a shift in perception which might one day ‘loans’ mentioned above and made a clear call for transpar- lead to the universal acceptance of popular sovereignty. It is also ency and accountability.

87 An older Act (the 1972 Local Government Act), which has bestosis) and help in the scrutiny of legislation (e.g. land re- only recently been ‘rediscovered’, permits elements of direct form, criminal justice, national parks). democracy. It applies in small communities (parishes) of England and Wales, but does not appear to apply to cities, Both standard and e-petitions can be submitted by individu- or to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Act states that if 10 als or groups. E-petitions are hosted on the Parliament’s web- or more people attending a parish council meeting vote for site for an agreed period, providing an opportunity to attract a poll on a subject of their choosing, the governing district a much wider audience and gather more names in support council must agree to organize what is in effect a local ref- of the petition. Each e-petition has its own discussion forum, erendum within the boundaries of the parish. This Act has where visitors and supporters can discuss and debate the peti- now been invoked on a number of occasions, for example to tion and related issues. When the agreed period for hosting a oppose trials of genetically-modified crops. petition on-line ends, the petition is then formally submitted to the PPC for consideration in the usual way. The following Tentative moves in the direction of a greater acceptance of a issues have been the subject of e-petitions: a campaign to save popular right to be involved in decision-making include the the 7:84 theatre company (so-called to reflect the fact that at the introduction in 1999 of a ‘public petition’ system in Scotland, time of its founding 7% of the Scottish population owned 84% followed the next year by the addition (in Scotland) of a e-peti- of the land); renewable energy; rights for people with autism; tion system and the introduction of e-petition systems in two parliamentary standards; parental access rights for children; English municipalities: Bristol and Kingston-upon-Thames. a new Forth Road Bridge; a moratorium on the ‘Public-Pri- vate-Partnership’ model for building new schools; ecovillages; Around 1000 petitions (including more than 90 e-petitions) local authority democratic accountability; the provision of af- have been submitted in Scotland to date (April 2006). Bristol fordable housing – a typical cross-section of public concerns has recorded 121 petitions, including 24 e-petitions; Kings- which in Switzerland and other places could be the subject of ton 24 petitions, including 21 e-petitions. a formal initiative and binding referendum system.

Whilst petitions (with no guarantee of being considered, and In November 2006, the Prime Minister‘s office considerably no possibility of a referendum vote on the issue) can hardly expanded its e-petition system, which was introduced in 2001. qualify as direct democracy, in terms of the very rigid and ar- The figures are remarkable: from November 2006 to Febru- chaic British political system these developments are none- ary 2007 (four months) more than 3,381 petitions were filed, theless significant. Perhaps from such small acorns oaks with more than 2,500,000 signatures. The managers of the may eventually grow. They give at least some members of system are apologizing for delays because the system is over- the public an experience of presenting a substantive issue to loaded – they have had a peak of 150 hits per second! parliament or the local authority, and in some cases backing this up with a collection of signatures. Though it remains a carefully controlled part of a top-down representative system, Power to the people the Scottish petition system is admirably ‘user-friendly’. Any person or group may submit a petition; there are very few re- The original definition of democracy by Thucydides makes strictions on subject-matter (issues must be within the com- clear that it is essentially about the apportionment of the pow- petence of the devolved parliament); petitions can be posted er of decision-making in society (“Our Constitution is called free of charge at any post office, or even handed in formally, a democracy because power is in the hands, not of a minor- by arrangement, for publicity purposes! Information on the ity, but of the greatest number”). That recognition may have scheme is available in six languages and petitions may in fact been the reason for the naming of the ‘Power’ inquiry – an be submitted in any language, including Braille. There is ex- independent inquiry into British democracy, funded by the cellent coverage of the scheme online, including an archive charitable Rowntree Trust and launched in 2004 under the of all petitions submitted. Petitioners may be able to make a chairmanship of the redoubtable Helena Kennedy QC, a La- personal presentation to the Public Petitions Committee (a bour peer. Its report, entitled “Power to the People”, was pub- cross-party group of MSPs dealing only with petitions). lished in February 2006. It makes very interesting reading.

The committee has full and final discretion to deal with peti- Helena Kennedy summarised the key findings of the report tions as it sees fit. There is no right of appeal. The commit- in an article for The Independent newspaper on 27th Febru- tee may consult the Scottish Executive (government) or other ary 2006: “The people are not the problem. They are inter- relevant body; it may request a minister or a representative ested in politics. They care about the bread-and-butter issues of a body to give evidence; it may decide that the issue mer- that affect their lives. They care about their communities and its further action and formally refer the petition to a subject neighbourhoods, their country and the world – but they are committee of the Parliament or other body; it may recom- totally alienated from the political system. Formal democracy mend to the Parliamentary Bureau that the petition should is failing the people. be debated at a meeting of the parliament; it may decide that the issues raised do not merit further action; or it may decide The political class does not realize how deep the alienation to take any other action as appropriate. runs. Fundamental reform is needed if we are to re-establish a democracy fit for a 21st-century People. ‘Power to the Peo- The Scottish Parliament is clearly proud of its petitions sys- ple’ calls for three essential shifts: more power to the people; tem. It is pro-active in publicising it, and its website lists more power to parliament; more electoral choice. some of its achievements: it has resulted in a change to laws (e.g. a ban on the spreading of untreated organic waste on There has to be a new emphasis on public engagement in poli- land); petitions have been included in wider reviews and in- tics. All public bodies should be required to involve citizens in quiries; petitions may initiate parliamentary debates, prompt their decision-making processes. Clear processes are needed action by the Executive and other public bodies (e.g. in the which allow people to challenge decisions and set the agenda. speeding up of the compensation process for victims of as- That is why we recommend the use of a far-reaching Citizens’

88 Initiative, through which people can launch their own local These principles were “fully endorsed” by both Parliament and national referendums, public enquiries and hearings. and Executive in 1999, but the implicit acknowledgement of popular sovereignty was explicitly undermined a year or The overweening dominance of the Executive has to be so later by a parliamentary committee tasked with assess- checked. Our voting system allows parties to maintain a mo- ing how well the ‘key principles’ had been implemented. nopolistic grip on political power. We need electoral reform The committee effectively downgraded the importance of that will widen the choice for voters and let new voices and the first principle – the sharing of power. In the 2003 re- alliances emerge. These three shifts, involving 30 recom- port of the Procedures Committee we read: “It was clear mendations … will blow open the cosy Westminster consen- to us that the CSG principles did focus very much on the sus that citizens require little more out of democracy than a Parliament, and were based heavily on a model of ‘partici- choice between two broad political programmes once every pative democracy’. The traditional model of ‘representa- four years. The shifts will download power, and that is what tive democracy’ seemed to the CSG to be breaking down the people want”. (The report can be downloaded at www. as a workable model in Scotland prior to devolution, and powerinquiry.org.) indeed to be under pressure all across the western world, as electoral turnouts and active citizen involvement in po- Moreover, in 2006 the Our Say campaign, chaired by actress litical parties and electoral politics declined. Devolution on Saira Khan, has started a petition asking for introduction its own would not reinvigorate politics. The CSG model of binding citizen-initiated referendums. It is supported by of participative democracy was meant to win legitimacy prominent people from several sectors of society. for the new devolved institutions, to empower civil society and the people of Scotland directly, and to rebuild active It remains to be seen what effect these initiatives will have on engagement between the people and those charged with a system essentially dedicated to preserving the status quo, legislation and government. It seemed to us that the CSG’s whilst making token gestures in the direction of ‘participa- aspirations were tempered by a recognition of the need to tion’. In the days after the Power report was published, all compromise in ‘the real world’.” In effect, the Committee the major party leaders made verbal commitments to great- (composed solely of parliamentarians) was renouncing ef- er public participation in decision-making. This is nothing fective power-sharing. new: in the 1979 Conservative party manifesto, Margaret Thatcher stated: “All energy developments raise important Britain remains at heart a conservative nation, still locked environmental issues, and we shall ensure the fullest pub- to a high degree into past ‘glories’ (the Empire, being on the lic participation in major new decisions.” Nothing more was ‘winning side’ in two world wars) which, together with its heard of this after the election and there has never been a full status as a major economic power, help to make its politi- public debate on the country’s overall energy policy – a mat- cians pretentious, arrogant and unwilling to take a leaf out of ter of increasing concern to all states in the era of Peak Oil. anyone else’s book – except perhaps the USA, towards which it is often very imitative.

Future prospects As things currently stand, there is a slim chance that the next general election (probably 2008) might produce the What are the prospects for more direct democracy in Britain? first ‘hung parliament’, with the Liberal Democrats holding The future is uncertain. A move in the direction of decentrali- the balance of power. There would then be a chance of the sation of power was made with the creation of the Scottish unfair first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections at Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. last being consigned to history – though it would take an- All of these have introduced fairer voting systems, allowing a other four years or so for such a change to produce a wider wider spread of representation, but the hopes of a more radi- spread of representation. It remains to be seen whether the cal shift away from the ‘Westminster model’ have not so far ‘Power Inquiry’ and the Our Say campaign will produce any been realized. Polls show that citizens do not believe that dev- real momentum for change, especially given the consider- olution has brought significant change in the political modus able influence on popular thinking of a grossly unbalanced operandi. The petition system in Scotland is a welcome in- and distorted media coverage of political issues. novation, but, as noted above, it remains tightly controlled within the representative system, despite Scotland having a “Only recently have we awakened to see not only that ‘regu- historical political culture which implicitly endorses the prin- lar citizens’ have the capacity for self-governance, but that ciple of popular sovereignty – as reflected in the ‘key princi- without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be ples’ outlined by the Consultative Steering Group in its rec- addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to ommendations for the form of the new Scottish Parliament: survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves – regular citizens • the Scottish Parliament should embody and reflect the shar- – feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct en- ing of power between the people of Scotland, the legislators gagement.” (Frances Moore Lappé) and the Scottish Executive; • the Scottish Executive should be accountable to the Scottish “If diverse ordinary people are given adequate information Parliament and the Parliament and Executive should be ac- and a chance to deeply hear each other and reflect together countable to the people of Scotland; about public affairs … there is a natural tendency to come to • the Scottish Parliament should be accessible, open, respon- see a larger picture together, through each others’ eyes, and sive, and develop procedures which make possible a par- to then wrestle in good faith with the implications of that ticipative approach to the development, consideration and larger picture … so that in the end they find that their di- scrutiny of policy and legislation; versity is a resource, stimulating each other into remarkable • the Scottish Parliament in its operation and its appoint- creativity. Suddenly options that make sense to all or most ments should recognise the need to promote equal oppor- of them emerge – possibilities often unseen by any of them tunities for all. when they began talking.” (Tom Atlee)

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94 About the authors

Jos Verhulst (1949) has a PhD in quantum chemistry from the University of Leuven, Bel- gium, and his other studies include philosophy and economics. He is the co-founder of Democratie.nu, the Belgian movement for direct democracy. Jos Verhulst’s previous titles include ‘Der Glanz von Kopenhagen: Geistige Perspektiven der modernen Physik’ (‘Spir- itual perspectives on modern physics’, 1994), an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum mechanics, and ‘Der Erstgeborene: Mensch und höhere Tiere in der Evolution’ (1998), a non-Darwinian view of human evolution (published in 2003 in the United States with the title: ‘Developmental Dynamics in Humans and Other Primates’). His work has been published in Psychological Reports, Acta Biotheoretica, the British Medical Journal, and Annals of Human Biology. He also publishes articles on various social topics in numerous newspapers and magazines. He wrote the first edition of this book in 1998.

Arjen Nijeboer (1974) studied Journalism and Communication at Windesheim College, Zwolle, the Netherlands, and International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. He is a co-founder of the Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe and the Referendum Platform. He has conducted various campaigns in the Netherlands for the introduction of direct democracy, including the campaign for a referendum on the European Constitu- tion, and advises politicians, authorities and organisations concerning referendums and campaigns. He publishes articles about democratic issues in national newspapers and professional and academic magazines in various countries. He is the co-author of this extended and updated edition.

Paul Carline (1944) has a degree in modern languages from Manchester University. He is affiliated to the Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe and is author ofmany articles on democracy related issues, as well as co-editor of IRI Europe’s “Guidebook to direct democracy”.

95 About the publishers of this work

Democracy International Democracy International is a network of movements for direct democracy that was set up in Brussels at the start of 2005. It aims to promote direct democracy both in the countries of Europe and at the level of the EU. It embraces both critics and supporters of the European Union who, despite their differences, are united in their desire for more direct democracy in Europe. Democracy International has successfully conducted campaigns to obtain referendums on the European Constitution in as many countries as possible: some 10 EU member states have announced such a referendum. Its campaign for the inclusion of direct-democratic rights in the European Constitution was partially successful: the European Citizens’ Initiative was included in it. After the rejection of the European Constitution, Democracy International was one of many organisations campaigning for the separate introduction of the European Citizens’ Initiative, as well as for a new Con- vention, directly elected by the citizens, to seek new ways for European cooperation. www.democracy-international.org

Democratie.nu (Democracy now) This Flemish movement for direct democracy was founded in 1995 as WIT (‘White’). Its change of name in 2005 to Democratie.nu reflects the better understanding that a political system with no possibility of binding referendums on all political issues cannot be called real democracy. In Belgium, the movement has significantly contributed to the inclusion of direct democracy in the manifestos of many political parties and in the public debate generally. From 1995 to the end of 2003, WIT published the most interesting magazine on direct democracy, de Witte Werf. www.democratie.nu

Referendum Platform The Referendum Platform was founded in 2000 to promote the introduction of direct democracy in the Netherlands. It campaigned successfully for a referendum on the Euro- pean Constitution and for introduction of the popular initiative in the city of Amsterdam. It advises citizen groups which initiate local referendums, conducts research and publishes books, reports and articles on direct democracy in the Netherlands and abroad. www.referendumplatform.nl